A WONDERFUL FUTURE AWAITS US!
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Daar wag ‘n heerlike toekoms!
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote a beautiful and cheerful letter to me and I know that when she wrote this to me, that it is not going well with her since she is undergoing cancer treatment that have progressed considerably. Her husband's work contract expires now as well and since he is 65 years old, they told him that they would not be renewing his contract.
Sometimes I spiritually look at the mountain I'm busy climbing and then I hear about someone else who is also trying to climb their mountain and I think to myself:
"Climb Sakkie, just climb…
Wipe the sweat of the world's troubles from your eyes that satan wants to blind you with and climb.
If our Lord thought you would not be able to climb this mountain, He would not have let you walk along this path.”
1 COR 10:13 “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
Eventually the mountains we are climbing to what await us at the end of the trip, is only a light affliction in comparison to the glory of eternal life that lies ahead:
2 COR 4:17 “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”
2 COR 4:18 “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
ROM 8:18 “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.”
I keep my eyes only on Jesus:
HEB 12:2 “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
HEB 12:3 “Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”
For if we endure to the end, we will share in His glory:
ROM 8:16 “For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”
ROM 8:17 “And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.”
Therefore, I continue showing Jesus Christ to people whilst climbing, to the best of my abilities:
MAT 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”
15 “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp Is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.”
16 “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
So that they will also have the hope and a glorious certainty, that at the end of the journey here on earth, we will forever live in Heaven:
JOHN 5:24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to My message and believe in God who sent Me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
Taking everything into consideration I must still remember, that despite what some people preach, everyone will not receive the same reward from our Lord:
1 COR 3: 11-15
11 “For no one can lay any foundation other than the One we already have – Jesus Christ.”
12 “Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials – gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.”
13 “But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.”
14 “If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.”
15 “But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”REV 22:11 “Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”
REV 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with Me to repay all people according to their deeds.”
Therefore, my friends, we climb the mountain that looms ahead of us that elevates into the sky. There is a summit and we will pass over it.
In the past, whenever I watched my wife and thought about our circumstances, I became very sad. So sad that my throat constricted that I could not even sing the words out loud but could only sing it in my head while my tears are running – and spiritually I climb to the beat of the rhythm of this chorus – and I wonder if you can still remember this chorus:
I'm so glad I belong to Jesus,
I'm so glad I belong to Jesus,
I'm so glad I belong to Jesus,
Hallelujah praise His name.
Praise His Name, Amen, Amen!
Praise His Name, Amen, Amen!
Praise His Name, Amen, Amen!
Hallelujah praise His name!
Yes, then I also remember with everything I have shared with you about our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:
Who is this Jesus Christ who makes me so ecstatic, despite satan's attacks on me?
A song about the glory of the Son
COL 1:15-20
15 “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,”
16 “for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him”
17 “He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.”
18 “Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.”
19 “For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ,”
20 “and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by mans of Christ’s blood on the cross.”
Greetings,
Sakkie