No Place Like Home

'So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. '

1 John 4:16-19

The last week or so I have thought about this and that and a few other things but mostly I have thought about what is happening to my dad right now. Last week, we got some unfortunate news about his health situation and were told that there was nothing else medical science could do to help my dad with his health situations and that he would be going home with hospice. So that is what we have done. We are waiting for the Lord to call my dad home. And it is that wait that got me to thinking. I could come up with a hundred different things to describe what I am thinking and feeling right now but I think this will explain it the best way I know how...

Did you ever watch the Wizard of Oz when you were a little kid? Well, that little gal Dorothy had it right the whole time when she kept saying, "There is no place like home." Her time away from her home in Kansas reinforced the fact that the place she found herself in was not her home. And friends we find ourselves in the same exact position today. It doesn't matter if its the finest beachfront resort in the Bahamas or the highest cabin in the Smoky Mountains, they can't begin to compare to our real home. It is only when we humble ourselves and submit to the Lord that we will be accepted into our forever home in heaven. And with it comes the benefits of heavenly citizenship...peace, comfort, security, love, and ultimately a perfect rest.

It is only in Christ that we find peace. It is only in Christ that we find the immeasurable comfort that we can't begin to comprehend on this side of heaven. The comfort and security that we have searched for our entire lives for is only found in Christ Jesus. We find the rest that has evaded us and that can't be found anywhere in this world. It is a divine peace that passes all understanding. We find God's love, a love that 1st Corinthians 13:7 tells us "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things."

It doesn't matter where you find yourself in life right now. Christ will accept you. It doesn't matter what you're dealing with or what you're facing, Christ is there. Christ doesn't care where you come from or how much money you have. He doesn't judge us by our wealth or lack, He only judges by the condition of our heart and our willingness to seek after Him. Our heavenly Father loved us first and He waits for us with wide open arms. He waits for us to come to Him and stop looking at Oprah and Dr. Phil for all the answers. He waits for us at the door of our hearts, waiting for us to open it up and allow the light and love of Christ to pour in.