Heaven Will Be Worth the Wait

There is a day coming for every child of God when faith will become sight, hope will become reality, and the long journey home will finally be over. Whatever trials we endure in this present life, whatever tears we shed, whatever prayers seem to wait unanswered, there is a glorious promise before us: Heaven will be worth the wait.

The Bible does not describe eternity as an endless existence floating upon clouds. It presents something far greater—a restored creation, the presence of God, the glory of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of our bodies, the reunion of God’s people, and a world where sin, suffering, death, and sorrow are gone forever.

The Greatest Gift: We Will See Jesus

Above everything else, Heaven is glorious because Jesus will be there.

Paul wrote that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Jesus Himself promised His disciples:

“I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
—John 14:3, KJV

Imagine that moment.

The One whom we have trusted without seeing, we will finally see face to face. The One whose name we have worshiped, whose Word we have believed, and whose grace has carried us through our darkest days will stand before us in glory.

The Apostle John tells us:

“We shall see him as he is.”
—1 John 3:2

Every question about faith will be answered by His presence. Every doubt will disappear. Every struggle will seem small compared with the glory of being with Christ.

Jesus is not merely the One who gets us to Heaven.

Jesus is the treasure of Heaven.

We Will See Our Loved Ones Again

For those who have died in Christ, death is not the final goodbye.

The Christian hope is resurrection.

Paul comforted believers who were grieving their departed loved ones, telling them that Christians should not grieve “even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). He then described the great day when Christ returns and the dead in Christ are raised.

“And so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
—1 Thessalonians 4:17

What a promise.

The Christian does not believe that death permanently destroys the relationships God has given us. We look forward to the resurrection and the gathering together of God’s people in the presence of Christ.

Can we imagine embracing a loved one again—without sickness, without separation, without the fear that another goodbye is coming?

The reunion will not be marked by hospitals, funerals, tears, or graves.

It will be life.

And it will be eternal.

No More Death, Sorrow, or Pain

Perhaps one of the most beautiful promises concerning eternity is found in Revelation:

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.”
—Revelation 21:4

Think about everything that causes us grief in this present world.

There will be no more death.

No more funeral services.

No more cancer wards.

No more broken hearts.

No more loneliness.

No more betrayal.

No more fear.

No more sin.

No more crying ourselves to sleep.

God Himself will wipe away the tears.

The hands that created the universe will personally comfort His children.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

Scripture points beyond simply going to Heaven. God’s ultimate plan is the renewal of creation.

John saw:

“a new heaven and a new earth.”
—Revelation 21:1

The Christian hope is not ultimately an escape from God’s creation but the redemption and renewal of creation.

Peter likewise speaks of looking for:

“new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
—2 Peter 3:13

Imagine a world where righteousness dwells completely.

No corruption.

No injustice.

No violence.

No exploitation.

No pollution.

No decay.

No sin.

Everything will finally exist as God intended it to exist.

The curse will be gone, and creation itself will be brought into glorious freedom.

The New Jerusalem

And then Scripture gives us one of the most breathtaking visions in all of the Bible—the New Jerusalem.

John saw the holy city descending from Heaven:

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
—Revelation 21:2

The description is magnificent: gates of pearl, foundations adorned with precious stones, streets of pure gold, and the glory of God illuminating the city.

But even these incredible descriptions point toward something greater.

God Himself will dwell with His people.

Revelation says:

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.”
—Revelation 21:3

The greatest beauty of the New Jerusalem will not be its gold.

It will not be its gates.

It will not be its walls.

It will be the presence of God.

And there will be no temple in the city, because:

“the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.”
—Revelation 21:22

The Lamb is Jesus Christ.

The One who died for us will be at the center of eternity.

We Will Finally Understand

There are things we cannot understand now.

There are prayers we do not understand.

There are disappointments whose purpose remains hidden.

There are losses that still hurt.

There are seasons when we wonder why God allowed something to happen.

But Heaven will bring clarity.

Paul wrote:

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.”
—1 Corinthians 13:12

One day we will see clearly.

We will understand that God never abandoned His children.

We will understand the meaning of grace.

We will understand the purpose of perseverance.

And perhaps many things that caused us to weep on earth will appear completely different when viewed from eternity.

Heaven Will Make This Journey Worth It

Paul, who suffered imprisonment, persecution, beatings, rejection, hunger, danger, and hardship, wrote:

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
—Romans 8:18

That is an extraordinary statement.

Paul was not saying that suffering is insignificant.

He was saying that future glory is infinitely greater.

Whatever you are facing today, it will not last forever.

The sickness will not last forever.

The grief will not last forever.

The struggle against sin will not last forever.

The tears will not last forever.

This present age is not the end of the story.

There is a resurrection coming.

There is a Kingdom coming.

There is a New Jerusalem coming.

There is a new heaven and a new earth coming.

And, most importantly, Jesus is coming.

Keep Going

Sometimes the Christian life feels long.

Sometimes the road is difficult.

Sometimes faith feels like walking through darkness while holding onto a promise.

But keep going.

Keep trusting Christ.

Keep praying.

Keep believing.

Keep your eyes on eternity.

The writer of Hebrews tells us to run the race with endurance, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1–2).

The finish line is closer than it has ever been.

And when we finally cross it, we will discover that every sacrifice made for Christ was worth it.

Every prayer was worth it.

Every act of obedience was worth it.

Every tear was worth it.

Every moment when we chose Christ over the world was worth it.

Because on the other side of this life is not emptiness.

There is glory.

There is resurrection.

There is reunion.

There is righteousness.

There is the New Jerusalem.

There is the new heaven and the new earth.

And there is Jesus.

The Best Is Yet to Come

Christian, do not let the temporary darkness of this world make you forget the eternal light that is coming.

Jesus promised to prepare a place for His people.

He promised to return.

He promised resurrection.

God promised to make all things new.

And John heard the voice from the throne proclaim:

“Behold, I make all things new.”
—Revelation 21:5

One day, the journey will be over.

One day, faith will become sight.

One day, we will stand in the presence of the One who loved us enough to die for us.

One day, we will see those who have gone before us in Christ.

One day, there will be no more graves to visit because death will be gone.

One day, there will be no more tears to shed because God Himself will wipe them away.

One day, we will enter the fullness of the inheritance Christ purchased for us.

And when that day comes, we will understand something with absolute certainty:

Heaven was worth the wait.

Until then, keep your eyes upon Jesus.

The road may be difficult.

The night may be long.

But morning is coming.

Christ is coming.

And for those who belong to Him, the best is yet to come.

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
—Revelation 22:20

In our deepest pain, grief, or hopelessness, Jesus still speaks life.

If you're walking through a valley today, remember: the same power that raised Lazarus is available to you.

Explore more: lazaruscameforth.com

#LazarusComeForth #John11v43 #BibleVerse #JesusHasPower #HopeInHardTimes #FaithOverFear #GodsWord #ResurrectionPower #SpeakLife #ChristianEncouragement

This thought has been sitting with me for a while now.
And every time I think about it, I somehow become even more convinced.
I genuinely don't think you can afford to follow Jesus and ignore emotional intelligence.
Notice I didn't say every Christian is emotionally intelligent.

They're not.

We've all met Christians who can quote Scripture for hours but cannot apologize.

Who can discern "spirits" in every room but cannot discern that the person sitting beside them is tired, grieving or afraid.

Who know how to pray, but don't know how to listen.

Who know how to correct, but don't know how to restore.

And I don't say that to judge anybody.

I say it because I think we've accidentally separated two things that Jesus never separated.

We've treated spiritual maturity and emotional maturity like they are different journeys.

I don't think they are.

Actually...

I don't think they can be.

Because who exactly are you becoming if you're becoming like Christ?

Think about Jesus for a second.

And no, not just what He taught.

But the way He related to people.

That's the part that keeps arresting me.

He didn't speak to everyone the same way.

To some people, He asked questions.

To others, He sat and listened.

Sometimes He challenged.

Sometimes He comforted.

Sometimes He walked away.

Sometimes He stayed.

He knew when Peter needed correction.

He knew when Peter needed breakfast by the sea.

He stood in front of a woman caught in adultery and somehow managed to hold both compassion and truth in the same conversation.

How?

He wasn't just spiritually deep.

He understood people.

He understood timing.

He understood emotions.

He understood that the same truth can heal one person and crush another depending on how and when it's delivered.

And I think that's where a lot of us struggle.

We've become so committed to saying the right thing...

that we've forgotten to ask whether this is the right moment.

Sometimes the truth is right.

The timing isn't.

Sometimes the words are biblical.

The posture isn't.

Sometimes we're so eager to "speak the truth" that we forget Scripture didn't stop there.

It says to speak the truth in love.

Love changes how truth sounds.

I've also noticed something else.

A lot of us think emotional intelligence means having deep conversations.

Or using words like "boundaries" and "attachment styles."

No.

Sometimes emotional intelligence is much simpler than that.

It's noticing that your friend has gone unusually quiet.

It's realizing someone is angry but the anger isn't the real emotion.

It's apologizing without adding, "But you also..."

It's knowing when your spouse doesn't need another solution. They need to know they're not carrying the weight alone.

It's recognizing that the person who keeps interrupting everyone may not be proud. They may simply be desperate to be heard.

It's asking one more question instead of making one more assumption.

You know what I find interesting?

Paul spent so much of the New Testament teaching people how to relate.

Be kind.

Bear with one another.

Forgive one another.

Encourage one another.

Be patient.

Be gentle.

Those aren't just spiritual instructions.

They're relational ones.

And relationships are where emotional intelligence is tested.

Not during prayer meetings.

During disagreement.

During disappointment.

During correction.

During marriage.

During leadership.

During friendship.

During ordinary Tuesday afternoons when someone says something that hurts your feelings.

That's where you find out whether you've just learnt Scripture...

or whether Scripture has started reshaping you.

Because following Jesus should change more than your prayer life.

It should change how safe people feel around you.

How you handle conflict.

How quickly you assume the worst.

How you carry people's weaknesses.

How you respond when you're misunderstood.

How you hold both conviction and compassion without sacrificing either.

If ten years with Jesus has made me more knowledgeable but less patient...

something is wrong.

If I've learnt how to preach but not how to apologize...

something is wrong.

If I know every spiritual principle but cannot sit with someone's grief without trying to fix it immediately...

something is wrong.

I honestly think we've admired gifting more than we've admired Christlikeness.

And they're not the same thing.

You can be gifted and still be emotionally immature.

You can be anointed and still wound people with your words.

You can lead thousands and still not know how to love the person sitting across from you.

That should bother us.

Because the goal of Christianity has never been to know more about Jesus.

It's to become more like Him.

And every time I read the Gospels, I don't just see a man full of power.

I see a man who noticed people.

Who made space for questions.

Who wasn't intimidated by tears.

Who wasn't threatened by people's emotions.

Who could tell the hardest truths without making people feel unseen.

The more I think about it, the less I believe emotional intelligence is optional for the Christian.

Not because it's trendy or because psychology says it's important.

But because every step towards Christ should also be a step towards becoming more patient, more gentle, more aware, more compassionate, more self-controlled.

More human in the way heaven intended.

Maybe that's what emotional intelligence looks like in the Kingdom.

And not becoming better at reading people so you can manage them.

But becoming so formed by Christ...

that people consistently experience His heart when they encounter yours.

Can I not do with you as this potter? says the Lᴏʀᴅ. Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand.

Jeremiah 18:6

Let’s observe a potter at work: First, he takes a lump of clay and kneads it to make it pliable. Then, he places it on the potter’s wheel and shapes it. As he presses one hand into the interior, giving it the desired volume, he holds it with the other from the outside, smoothing, refining and shaping the clay. It takes much skill and experience to form a useful vessel out of a shapeless mass.

God is the potter who has shaped humans (the clay) according to His intention and wisdom. The patriarch Job expresses it to God: “Your hands have made me and fashioned me ... Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay” (Job 10:8–9). But sin has corrupted everything. The vessel has became unusable for God; it is “marred” and no longer serves its purpose (Jeremiah 18:4). The problem doesn’t lie with God – He is a perfect potter! – but with us. What now?

The clay is still in the hand of God. When sinners repent by acknowledging God’s judgment of “uselessness” over their lives, He starts anew with us: He will make from the same lump of clay a vessel for His honour.

Everyone who has turned to God and has believed in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has eternal life. A treasure has, so to speak, been placed into the vessel, making it valuable to God now. Yet the potter’s work is not finished. When believers feel pressure because of grief, illness or other difficulties weighing them down, it is God’s hand shaping their character: this is in order that we might please Him.
Today’s reading: Joshua 19:1-51 · 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

https://gbv-online.org/calendar/262/date/2026-08-19

Amazing Facts
Daily Devotionals

A Taste for Something Good.

August 18th, 2026

Humans have about 10,000 taste buds on their tongues, yet insects have the most highly developed sense of taste—using their feet and antennae. Have you ever taken a bite of some food and suddenly tasted something bitter? (At one potluck, I put some peanut butter on my desert only to discover it was actually vegan cheese spread. Not pretty!)

Your first response is to spit it out. Of the five senses of the tongue, bitterness is the most sensitive at picking up something that tastes disagreeable. Perhaps that was God’s intention, as many toxic plants have naturally bitter compounds.

The taste threshold of bitterness is measured in relationship to quinine, which is given a reference index of 1. In 1958, scientists discovered a chemical called denatonium, the bitterest substance ever found. It has a threshold of 1,000! This aversive agent is added to poisonous matter to prevent people from accidentally swallowing something that might harm them.

Researchers have also discovered a couple of substances that are extremely bitter to some people but are virtually tasteless to others. Evidently, the genes of some people make them “supertasters” when it comes to identifying certain bitter compounds.

Solomon gives strong medicine to his son in Proverbs 5, urging him to shun immorality at all costs. He speaks from personal experience. It’s odd that the wisest man who ever lived made some of the most foolish choices in the area of lust. To all men he warns that what might seem sweet in the beginning ends up being bitter in the end.

He illustrates the remorse and disastrous consequences of breaking the seventh commandment with a perennial plant that grows in the temperate parts of Northern Africa called artemesia. The shrub was used as an ingredient in flavoring some alcoholic drinks and in some spices, but the strong bitter juice of the plant is unfit to eat in your typical lunch salad.

God wants us to be supertasters at sensing the poisonous temptations of Satan. Through Solomon’s example, the Lord calls to us to “pay attention!” We can learn from Solomon’s experiences and be saved from a taste of bitter grief.

Lord, I make a promise to keep my eyes on you today and to keep my thoughts pure. I choose to turn from every polluted pathway.

Additional reading: Proverbs 5:1–14

Key Bible Texts
My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: (Proverbs 5:1 KJV)

THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT JESUS` SACRIFICE
He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” —Mark 14:34
Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt as though your friends and family had abandoned you? Have you ever felt like you were misunderstood? Have you ever had a hard time understanding or submitting to the will of God for your life? If so, then you have an idea of what the Lord Jesus went through when He agonized at Gethsemane. 
book of Hebrews tells us, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (4:15–16 NLT). 
Book of Isaiah tells us that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (53:3 NLT). But the sorrow He experienced in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion seemed to be the culmination of all the sorrow He had ever known and would accelerate to a climax the following day.
The ultimate triumph that was to take place at Calvary was first accomplished beneath the gnarled, old olive trees of Gethsemane. Jesus shared His agony with His disciples. “He told them, ‘My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me’” (Mark 14:34 NLT
It’s interesting that the very word Gethsemane means “olive press.” Olives were pressed there to make oil, and truly, Jesus was being pressed from all sides that He might bring life to us.
I don’t think we can even begin to fathom what He was going through. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (NLT).
That’s the hard truth of our salvation: Jesus had to suffer and die in our place. He had to endure the punishment that we deserved.
He was crushed and beaten for our sake. He could have walked away, but He submitted to His Father’s will so that the plan of salvation could be accomplished. 
His crushing and beating brought about your salvation and mine. Because of what Jesus went through at Gethsemane and ultimately at the cross, we can call on His name. Though His suffering and death were unfathomably excruciating, they were necessary for God’s ultimate goal. 
Maybe you’re at a crisis point in your life right now—a personal Gethsemane, if you will. You know what you want, yet you can sense that God’s will is different. Would you let the Lord choose for you? Would you be willing to say, “Lord, I am submitting my will to Yours. Not my will, but Yours be done”? You will never regret making that decision. 

God bless you!

PROVERB OF THE DAY

(Proverbs 17)

1. Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.

2. A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame,
And will share an inheritance among the brothers.

3. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the LORD tests the hearts.

4. An evildoer gives heed to false lips;
A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.

5. He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

6. Children’s children are the crown of old men,
And the glory of children is their father.

7. Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool,
Much less lying lips to a prince.

8. A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.

9. He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

10. Rebuke is more effective for a wise man
Than a hundred blows on a fool.

11. An evil man seeks only rebellion;
Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

12. Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.

13. Whoever rewards evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.

14. The beginning of strife is like releasing water;
Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.

15. He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

16. Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom,
Since he has no heart for it?

17. A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

18. A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge,
And becomes surety for his friend.

19. He who loves transgression loves strife,
And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.

20. He who has a deceitful heart finds no good,
And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.

21. He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.

22. A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.

23. A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back
To pervert the ways of justice.

24. Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

25. A foolish son is a grief to his father,
And bitterness to her who bore him.

26. Also, to punish the righteous is not good,
Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.

27. He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

28. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.

Romans 5:3 NLT
____

The fruit that is produced within us is meant to be used for God’s glory.
____

Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief.
____

Loving Savior, please help me bless others with words that can be trusted.
____

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Guidelines for living.
August 17th, 2026

Will You Choose a Simpler Life?

You have always protected him and his home and his property from all harm. You have prospered everything he does—look how rich he is! No wonder he “worships” you! But just take away his wealth, and you’ll see him curse you to your face!” (Job 1:10-11, Living Bible



How much do you really need? If everything you own was suddenly wiped out by a fire or a devastating storm, would you thank God that your life was spared, or curse because of your loss?

I asked myself that question one day when a friend and I noticed that smoke was coming out of the window of a house. For a moment we sat there, not believing what we saw. Then we realized the house was on fire. I ran to a phone and called the fire department, but it was too late. An oil stove had exploded and showered the fuel throughout the house. By the time we got the fire department there and ran to the house, the entire home was one blazing inferno. There was no loss of life, but outside the flaming house stood a father and mother and a little girl about six years of age. The parents were almost beside themselves with grief. How do you console someone in an hour like that?

The young father cried out, “My God—all is lost!” The little girl put her hand on her daddy’s as her mother held her tightly in her arms, and she said, “Daddy, you got mommy and me … .” If that should happen to you, would you feel like giving up? Or would you realize that with no loss of life or limb, that what really counts is not what you have but rather what you are?

A Christian friend who did lose everything he owned in a fire, and could speak from personal experience, talks freely about the lessons God taught him through that. The biggest one was the tragedy of building your life around what you have. No one enjoys living in poverty. I’ve traveled too much in the world ever to buy that people who live in poverty are not bothered by what they don’t have, since they’ve never known some of the things that you have in your home. They hurt when their baby is sick, and there is no agency to provide medicine and there is no money. They hurt when the cold of winter presses through the cardboard of a squatter’s shack.

In recent years the affluence of some, yes, many, has become a sharper and more noticeable contrast to the poverty of others. How much do you really need? This, of course, is a question that has no pat answer, but it has readily become apparent that no one is so affluent that he can afford to disregard the needs of others today. Evangelist Leighton Ford believes that the simple life which pleases God today is one that gets its priorities straight. “We are going to have to lead simpler lives in the future,” said Ford. No question about that. The question is, “Will it be because we are forced to, or because we choose to?”

Every sincere individual must come to grips with the responsibility that we have to God in areas of our stewardship. And “what is stewardship?” you might ask. It’s an old English word that originally meant the supervision of another’s wealth or possessions. Literally, a steward was a “house warden.” He was the person to whom the master had entrusted his possessions; the steward was directly responsible to the owner. If you can begin to think of your possessions as a stewardship, given to you by God, who will someday demand an accounting, you will begin to think of material goods and possessions in a different light.

With the changing world scene today, it’s become apparent that everyone will have to change some of the ways we have done things; the big question is, “Will it be because we are forced to, or because we choose to, as God’s direction for our lives?”



Resource Reading: Job 1:1-22