Does your favorite Bible verse change from time to time? Or are there simply too many “favorites” to pick just one? That is certainly true for me, but lately I have reveled in the truth of two precious passages:

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.

~John 14:1-3

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

~1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Oh the joy that floods my soul when those truths fill my soul with anticipation! One day we will be with Him where He is, not in this sin-sick world, but in the New Jerusalem, and it will be eternal! Revelation 21:1-4 describes that place:

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. ² Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Yet meanwhile, we live on this planet God designed as perfect, but was infected by the iniquities and trespasses of us all. This week, we commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord who came to offer a solution to our sin-sickness, but many reject Him. Our world today will soon experience the full wrath of God because of individual and collective sinfulness of mankind. We endure evil and perilous times (as predicted by 2 Timothy 3 and others) in anticipation of the fulfillment of John 14:1-3 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (quoted above)!

Be strong and courageous, brothers and sisters, though many forsake the free gift of salvation, but for those of us who don’t, our coronation day is coming!