{"id":24643,"date":"2018-11-28T03:30:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T11:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=24643"},"modified":"2018-11-27T16:26:00","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T00:26:00","slug":"november-28-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2018\/11\/28\/november-28-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"November 28, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cWe are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>2 Corinthians 5:8<\/p>\n

At Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Home\u2014the place we return to after a long day, or perhaps on holidays after a long absence. God put the desire in us to go where we belong, to be where we are cherished and accepted.<\/p>\n

My grown kids love to come home for Christmas. I\u2019m sure part of the reason is because they have sweet memories of good times together. The room was strewn with a riot of ribbons and wrapping, toys and instruction booklets, new books to read, and little candies from their stockings. For once, I wasn\u2019t telling them to clean up the mess. Food was laid out on the table all morning for whenever anyone got hungry. After weeks of anticipation, the day itself was easy.<\/p>\n

I know we don\u2019t all have earthly families who make it easy for us to be together, but this idea of coming home should appeal to us as Christians. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and being with Him will make eternity more of a home than we\u2019ve ever known in this life. We will feel completely at home with Him\u2014cherished and accepted.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we have anxiety over going to a new place, particularly when we must move into a new home in a new area or even a new country. There is a sense of feeling out of place, as if we are lost, friendless, uncertain. I moved only three times as a child, so I was very connected and comfortable in my life, school, and neighborhood each time I was uprooted. I feared the process of starting over and wondered if I would be the same person, or if my new life would change me, or even hurt me.<\/p>\n

No, our Lord promises something very different. We will feel at home with Him. We don\u2019t always know it, but He has placed a type of homesickness in us. We would actually rather\u00a0<\/strong>be away from this body and at home with Him. We will be content, secure, peaceful, full of joy.<\/p>\n

Though I deeply look forward to my kids coming home at Christmas, God longs even more for us to come home to Him.He has made us a place so unimaginably perfect, so everlastingly interesting and joyful\u2014far from any preparations I can make for my children\u2014with a banqueting table for our feasting celebration, and inconceivable gifts, pleasures, delights, and happinesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh Father, our earthly celebrations and delights are but a shadow of what You have planned for us. Help us to realize our longing for You and eternity in Your presence, for in Your presence is fullness of joy. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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