Peter Marshall tells the story of a young boy about four years old who had a terminal disease. At first he was simply sick and in bed and didn’t understand his condition, but eventually he realized that he wasn’t going to get better and would never again play with his friends. One morning he asked his mother, “Am I going to die?” And she said, “Yes, dear.” “Mommy, what is death like? Will it hurt?” The mother ran out of the room to the kitchen and leaned against the refrigerator, her knuckles gripped white to keep from crying. She prayed and asked the Lord to give her an answer for her son. Suddenly, an idea came and she went back to his room and sat down on the bed. “Do you remember how you used to play outside all day and when you came inside at night you were so tired you just fell down on the couch and slept? In the morning you woke up in your own bed. During the night your father would come along and pick you up and carry you to your own bed. That’s what death is like. One night you lie down and go to sleep and your Heavenly Father picks you up and carries you to your own bed. In the morning when you wake up, you’re in your own room in heaven.” The little boy smiled and nodded. And several weeks later he died peacefully. That’s what death is like for the Christian. Satan’s hold is broken. The fear is taken away. Jesus came to break the bondage of death.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may  be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
2 Peter 3:14

Psychologists tell us that anticipation, which is the opposite of surprise, is an emotion with marvelous healing powers. People who are snowbound sustain their spirits by anticipating the longer days of spring and summer. Couples who are separated by military deployment stay sane by anticipating their reunion. Students anticipate the end of the semester. Workers look forward to their vacations. Brides and grooms are eager for their wedding day.

Can you imagine a world without anticipation? How would we feel with nothing to look forward to? Welcome to non-Christianity. Without Christ, there’s no ultimate anticipation. There may be momentary prospects and incremental excitement, but lasting expectancy is missing. The future has no promise; it holds no hope. Everything is perishing or will perish. Death is the termination of our lives, our families, our fortunes, our civilization, and even of the universe itself.

Thank God we have a message of hope! Our joy is complete as we look to the future return of our Lord and to the mansions He is preparing for us. Let’s live in anticipation today!(Turning Point)

On every page of the Bible there are words of God that give reason to hope…. In the promises of God I find inspiration and new hope.
Charles A. Allen

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. -2 Corinthians 5:10

Every week there seems to be a new “awards” program on television, honoring celebrities, actors, or personalities in the entertainment world. Every sporting event leads to some kind of championship in which trophies are awarded. Many executives receive bonuses at the end of the year, some of which have recently created disparaging headlines.

None of those rewards or honors has any eternal value; but the Bible talks about awards that are eternal, crowns to be given out at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The apostle Paul discussed this in Romans 14, saying we should get along with our brothers and sisters and not condemn those who have different opinions on non-essential matters, for “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” In 2 Corinthians 5, he warned us to please God and to persuade men, “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”

We may not fully understand the nature of the “rewards” and “crowns” that God promises to His servants, but the knowledge of the coming Judgment Seat of Christ should propel us to faithful service today.

Our eternal destination is the consequence of what we believe on earth. Our eternal compensation is the consequence of how we behave on earth. –Bruce Wilkinson