Daily Devotional

Fresno Is My Present Home

In my first eleven years in Toronto, Canada, we lived in several apartments in York Township. Over the rest of my life (with the exception of my Navy days), I lived in California in places like Santa Cruz, Felton, North Hollywood, San Mateo, Irvine, and Scotts Valley. We eventually moved to Fresno—the place where I have lived for almost thirty-five years and the place where I hope to be buried. Let me tell you about my Fresno home:
 

• It’s a multi-ethnic city of over 500,000 people in a county of over a million.
• It is a part of the San Joaquin Valley, known for being a place of the most abundant and productive agriculture. Some say it deserves the title as “bread basket of the world.”
• There are over 400 churches—“Branch Offices of the Body of Christ.”

 
I truly love Fresno even where the temperature can reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit (i.e., over 43 degrees Celsius). I often tease and tell people it makes preaching about hell a lot easier. I quickly add that it’s not the end of the world but I can see it from here. I love Fresno because it is my present home
 
But Heaven is My Forever Home
 
It is sometimes said the people of God have always been “a people in search of a place.” In the Old Testament, they were in search of the Promised Land, the land “flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). In the New Testament, Jesus points us even higher:
 
 John 14:1–3 - “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 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.”
 
Something happened in 1971 when I trusted in Jesus Christ alone for my salvation. I was promised eternal life in a forever home called Heaven. Let me tell you about my Heavenly Home:
 

• It is a real place Jesus Himself is preparing for us (John 14:1–3).
• It is a place indescribable in human terms (1 Corinthians 2:9).
• It’s a place where there will be no more tears and pain (Revelation 21:1–4).
• It’s a place where I will be with my believing family (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
• It’s the place where I will meet Jesus face to face (Revelation 22:4).
• It’s the place I will call home—forever! (2 Corinthians 5:8)

           
Fresno is my present home but Heaven is my forever home. Nothing compares! Thus, my homebound spirit sings the popular children’s song by O.A. Lambert:
 
Heaven is a wonderful place
Filled with glory and grace.
I wanna to see my Savior’s face.
Cause Heaven is a wonderful place.
(I wanna go there!)
^{(R.J. Stevens Music, LLC.)}

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.