GET TOGETHER- SEE YOU LATER

Joh 14:1 -6 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. “And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

This past week our son Jake and one of he and his wife Tommye’s children Eli came to stay with us a few days. They currently live in Ozark, Missouri. We had a very good time while they were here and Eli seemed not to be very homesick. He played with his cousin’s Judah, Micah, and Eden and had a very good time.
But Saturday night he began to get homesick. He was missing his Mother and his sister. When he and Jake got in the car to return to Ozark this past Sunday morning to be honest, I was sad. I knew that we were going to miss them. But on the other hand, we also knew that they were ready to get home and to be with Tommye and Hannah.
In the past several years we have had several loved ones and friends that have left this walk of life. J.J. and I often talk about them and the good memories that we have of them. Some have left this walk of life recently, and others it may have been years. But we still miss them from time to time. But one thing that we have been thankful for is that we know that we will see those that are in Christ again.
Thomas although he had been with Jesus three years and had heard him talk about eternal things, still had to ask Jesus where that He was going. and strangely he was still asking him for directions. Jesus gives him some good news. He tells him that He is the way to get to where that He is going. As a matter of fact, He tells him that He is the only way to get to where that He is going. That was true then. and that is true now.
I still remember the last thing that the Lord had me to say from the pulpit of the first church that we pastored. Christians never say goodbye. We just say we will see you later.
It isn’t easy to tell people that we love that we will see them later. Especially when we are not sure how long that it will be before we do see them again. But praise God that we can! Jesus made this promise to us in Joh 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” and Joh 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
But as painful as it is for us to see those that we love leave this life. I believe that at some point those that are in Christ come to a place that no matter how much that we love those here with us on the earth that we get a longing to go home. Just as Eli was enjoying his time with us last week, but then he got a longing to go home we get to that place where we long to be with Jesus, and go home.
Jesus has a home for all of us that have trusted in His shed blood and His shed blood alone for our salvation. Ro 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” What a glorious home that is! The apostle John tells us what it will be like in Re 22:1 ¶-5”And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”
While Eli was with us last week, he made the most of every moment that he was with us. While we are here on this earth, we need to make the most of the precious moments that God has given us here on this earth. We do that by loving those that God has put in our lives and serving the Lord Jesus in a manner that the Scriptures tell us to serve and that the Holy Spirit calls us to serve.
And for those of us in Christ one day just as Eli was longing to go home and to see his Mother, we will have a longing to go home and to meet our Heavenly Father and to live with the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever.
There is a mansion waiting for those that are ready. There is only one way that we can get there. and that way is through Jesus. Have you made Him your Lord and Savior? If you have served Him here when the time has come, He will welcome you home with the words “well done my good and faithful servant.” If you haven’t there is no better tine than now to repent of your sins and to put your faith in His precious blood to save you from your sins. That is as far as I am going today. but I think that I will close with the following words. See you later!

Let Us Pray
Lord Jesus we thank You that we have an eternal home. We thank you for paying the price for our home in Heaven on Calvary’s cross. We thank You that You rose from the dead. We thank you that You have promised us that You will come again for those who love You and have put their faith in you. For all that haven’t we pray that any who read this will do it before it is to late. Thank You for Your mercy and for Your love.
In Jesus Name
Amen

See you later!
Your Friend/Kinfolk
Preston