Life This Side of Heaven Life This Side of Heaven

It’s worth knowing that shortly before His ascension took place, Jesus assured the disciples that He wouldn’t leave them to wander aimlessly on their own. He promised them the Holy Spirit and said, “He will guide you into all truth.” And what a great blessing this is for you and me. Jesus’ promise of the resurrection and everlasting life with Him is our unchanging destination. Here's how the Holy Spirit keeps us oriented on the trip so that we don’t get lost along the way. Like a compass that points steadily north, the Holy Spirit keeps our focus on Christ.

In many cases, the maps at the back of your Bible included one showing how people converged in Jerusalem for Pentecost.  It may even have arrows from the locations listed in Acts all pointing to Jerusalem. But take another look at that map.  Reverse those directional arrows and what you see is an explosion of people who then returned home – north, south east and west – telling everyone what they had seen and heard.  That ongoing eruption of Good News continues to this day and this Good News has now traveled all the way to you. The Holy Spirit made sure of it.

Impressive! You can’t help but marvel when you hear about the events that took place at Pentecost! Whenever we describe something as impressive, we usually mean that it was amazing, astonishing, and incredible to behold. Pentecost was all this an more. And in celebrating this event, yesterday in church, we may have found ourselves thinking, “Wow, I’ll bet that was impressive!” But that word “impressive” refers to much more than just razzle-dazzle. In fact, the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit continues to have an impact and leave a mark this day!

You and I live a world which embraces lies. That’s not surprising since our Savior describes the adversary as the father of lies. In John, Jesus prayed that the Father would protect us from the evil one. And Jesus tells us the manner in which God does this. Praying for the disciples, and all who would follow, He asked the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth.”

Why am I here?  It’s one of the great existential questions that folks find themselves asking from time-to-time. With the work of salvation complete, and our risen Savior's assurance of forgiveness and everlasting life, have you ever wondered why you woke up today on this side of heaven? Jesus answers that question!

When folks are asked, “Are you sure that you have eternal life,” a response frequently given is: “I hope so.” Sometimes, the answer given is, “I’m not sure.  I don’t know.” However, in Christ you can know that you have eternal life. In fact, you can be absolutely sure of it. 100% sure. Here's why!