Testimony
I am immensely amazed at how God used intercessors to specifically pray and it's as if they knew me from before. It can only be the Holy Spirit.... Read More...
Heaven on Earth
by Liz Griffin
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. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3:1-4, NLT
Can we really think about the things of heaven instead of the things of earth? Sometimes I am so busy entertaining our little grandchildren that I find I am fully focussed on the things of earth. There does not seem to be a minute when I can remember there is another world at those times. I can only imagine what it must be like for Christians who are mothers of young babies or toddlers. Can they fully experience being in the presence of God? How do they do that?
Just recently I was given the privilege of entering what seems to me like an alternative universe, two weeks spent in a wonderful Ellel Ministries Centre without shopping, cooking or washing up to think about at all. Many of the guests who go there often say it is like experiencing a taste of heaven on earth.
We started each day with a short breakfast devotional, then we had a team prayer meeting before spending lots of time praying with the guests during the day. We gathered in the evening by the fire in the big lounge to sing praises to the Lord and have a time of informal teaching about the Kingdom of God and healing. When we ventured outside it was a joy to breathe the pure air of a remote country area, far away from the big city.
The above scriptures remind me that my real life is hidden with Jesus and that one day He is coming back to the earth. Whether we are coming with Him or being gathered to Him from the earth below, we will share in all His glory. It is such a comfort to know that when things are sad or difficult in the world around us that we have another realm in which we live. Eternal life starts now, and we get little foretastes of what it will be like when all is made perfectly whole.
Someone remarked that tomorrow never comes, because we are always living in ‘today’. That is absolutely true, but it makes me want to treasure every moment that is a blessing in today. I have a special journal to record those blessings in. I have another notebook in which I record the problems that I need to pray about, (as well as answers to prayer).
I have a CD called ‘City of Gold Impressions of Heaven’. There is a song written by Phil Baggaley and I.D. Blythe called ‘How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place’ in it. One of the lines always used to puzzle me, ‘Sometimes my soul will yearn to reach another land, where all these moments meet are free in time and space’. I think I understand now what this means.
Liz Griffin lived for 20 years as an expatriate in South Africa, Bahrain and Japan, as her husband Paul worked for an international oil company. Paul and Liz became involved with Ellel Ministries in 1991 as part of the ministry team and joined the full-time team at Ellel Grange in 1995. Paul and Liz teach and minister to those seeking healing in their lives and together have written two books, 'Anger - How Do You Handle It' and 'Hope and Healing For The Abused'.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
