Book Giveaway: Mornings with Jesus 2015

It’s time for a Guideposts giveaway: the new devotional book, Mornings with Jesus 2015. This time, I’m featuring Guideposts‘ new devotional book, Mornings with Jesus 2015. Eleven writers helped write this new devotional, and this is the third year I’ve been privileged to join that writing team. Every time I study and learn more about Jesus, and every year I experience more of His love and grace, He grows more precious to me. Here’s an excerpt from one of the devotions I contributed to this book:

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:2-3 (NLT)

My husband and I enjoy traveling occasionally. We love visiting new places, learning about our nation’s history, and drawing close to Jesus through God’s beautiful creation.

In years past I often grieved when our vacation ended. I love my work, home, and family, but I wasn’t ready to face busy schedules, daily routines, and less glamorous tasks. Couldn’t we stay longer, tucked away from the demands of life? No: time, money, and energy would eventually run thin.

Recently, however, I experienced something different on our planned getaway. We enjoyed the same things as always: beautiful scenery, rich history, new places. But on the last day of our vacation, I got homesick—tearfully homesick.

Maybe the 3100 other passengers left me claustrophobic and eager for quiet, even though our ship provided a great temporary home away from home. Perhaps it’s because as the years progress, my energies decrease faster. Daily excursions sapped my strength more than usual on that trip. At any rate, I couldn’t wait to leave. I longed for the comforts and joys of my real home.

The older I get, the more homesick—sometimes tearfully homesick—I grow for another kind of getaway: a permanent one, filled with glorious beauty, where history has no end or beginning, where time stands still and energy never wanes.

After Jesus’s death and resurrection, He ascended back to heaven and is now preparing a place for me. Once  I’m there, I won’t be asking Jesus the question, “Could I stay a little longer?”

Forever is long enough.

Faith Step: Do you ever grow homesick for heaven? Take time today to thank Jesus for the permanent “home away from home” He is preparing for you.

Rebecca Barlow Jordan

(c) 2014 by Guideposts. All rights reserved.

Do you ever get homesick for heaven? What do you look forward to most in heaven?

The Guideposts’ giveaway has ended.