Day 5: Can it get any better than this?

Day 5: Can it get any better than this?

Read: John 14:1-3, Psalm 23

Planning for the ultimate vacation. The once in a lifetime place you never allow yourself to believe will actually become reality. It is too expensive, It is too far away, there are travel restrictions, ooooh and so many hours sitting in a airplane. Perhaps this once in a lifetime place is in the middle of some tropical nowhere and you realize that the travel planning just to get there is going to get way too complex and you need to get someone else permission and you need to possess certain attributes to go - especially if that once in a lifetime place is the top of Mount Everest in Tibet.

Prices will range from the “low-end” of an estimated $26,000 all the way up to $65,000 from several of the bigger companies. And this cost does not include the fact you’ll need to have roughly two months of free time to devote to climbing the mountain either. I wont mention the fact that of the cost and the time to preparing your physical and spiritual self for such an arduous journey. The highest mountain on the earth attracts many well-experienced mountaineers as well as capable climbers intrepid enough to try and willing to hire out trustworthy professional guides.

The risks are very great - There have been 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest, 54 fatalities since 2000. But, oh the thrill when you get to the top. I don't know this personally as I have never been and don't really plan on going either. But if you get the chance ask Apa Sherpa who holds the record for reaching the summit more times than any other person, 21 times between 10 May 1990 and 11 May 2011.[66] The record for a non-Sherpa is held by American climber and expedition guide Dave Hahn, reaching the summit 14 times between 19 May 1994 and 26 May 2012. The oldest was a 73 year old Tibetan woman and the youngest to make the ascent to the top was a 13-year-old boy Jordan Romero in May 2010 from the Tibetan side.

Perhaps you are really the adventurous type and your ultimate vacation is sailing around the world in a yacht or a sailboat or maybe even in a row boat. Sailing around the world is an adventure of a lifetime. The constant movement, the changing winds and waters and the people you'll meet along the way comprise an incredible experience. If you have always wanted to sail around the world but have been overwhelmed by the prospect, simply follow these steps to get started with an around the world trip. Read more: How to Sail Around the World | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2093398_sail-around-world.html. Good luck my friend.

Could it get any better than that. Well probably not. Although any one who has any plans for the ultimate get away, when they retire, or have a bucket wish, or just for the heck of it mentality are going to try and see if it is possible to top the one at the top. There will always seem to be a better place to go to go above the best you have ever had. It is the thrill of the planning. It is the ultimate joy and happy place we want to experience. The place of ultimate 'awe' and 'wonder' we long to get to.

The ultimate place we want to go, the ultimate place of 'awe' and 'wonder' -- The Father's House. The House of God both on earth and in heaven. Living with God. Experiencing the ultimate 'awe' and 'wonder' that is being in the presence of God. Just being near to the heart of God. Can it get any better than that? For me - NO!!

That is what makes today's Scripture passages so completely special. These truly wonderful passages are better than they first appear. For they have a very special double reference, both of which hold the promise of the 'ultimate get away'. On the one hand, it seems to refer to the place Jesus is about to prepare for us by going to the cross - a place in the Father's House that He alone enjoyed before coming to live among us. He has the perfect place of 'awe' and 'wonder', as One, with the heart of God. He had the ultimate once in an eternal lifetime place - in perfect fellowship with His Father God. He was there from the very beginning and will be there at the end.

He shared this with God long before His incarnation as a human being. Could it get any better than to be in a such a unique place of love and intimacy? The ultimate special place - near the heart of God - and He wants to be our eternal guide. The only trustworthy and true guide to get us to the ultimate place, to the ultimate joy.

In other wo0ds, for the joy that was before Him, He bore the ultimate punishment to create the ultimate "dwelling place" that we could forever experience the ultimate joy (Hebrews 12:1-3, Psalm 23:6), the ultimate place of quiet rest, the ultimate place of 'awe' and 'wonder'. Let me ask you again: Can it ever get any better than that?

Can it get ever any better than that? Once we grasp this magnificent promise and make it truly our own, when we squeeze it as hard as we can into our hearts, we can begin to squeeze out our despair, our depression, our darkness our negative thinking and so very much more than that. YES, my very good friends, it does and will get very much better for each of us. Regardless of where we are in our own human condition - locked in the very worst of times, enjoying the fruits of the very best of times - it will always get better and better, as we draw nearer and nearer to the Heart and the House of God. It may take more than a mornings before this joy to arrive and many tears will most likely be shed for many a reason. But, please, my friends, always strive to be encouraged that you may become an encouragement.

Yes, No matter where you are, life and Scripture teaches us an important lesson; we can get through anything anytime and anywhere when we know with true blessed assurance where the heart of God is to be found. God has given us a clear vision of where 'better' is located - sealed forever with His proven promises and illustrated so magnificently from the very beginning, through the present, on to the very end.

As we enter into a time of prayer and petition before our Father God, ask Him to fill your heart with His ultimate joy; with His ultimate rest, His ultimate presence. Then meditate on the nature of your 'wants' and 'needs' in light of God's plan for you.

Let us pray:

You are here, O God, even when we are woefully unaware of it. You are touching our lives with grace in a thousand different ways: in the smile of people we pass; the flowers growing where we did not expect them, the taste of warm bread, the sight of birds and butterflies flying through the air, a love letter, a Hallmark card, the warmth of a friends voice and so much more that we cannot name them all.

How wonderfully rich our lives are and how seldom we seek to say thanks. You have called us out of ourselves that we may draw near and into your quiet presence. You have promised us that it will always get better than we have been, where we are walking now and wherever our future will take us if we but suffer you to guide us.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit; where we see a cross, we will carry it with joy; when we pass through the valleys of despair, we will endure it with joy; when our place of rest and peace are disturbed, we will suffer it with joy in our hearts; when in times we find ourselves grieving or mourning we will strive to do so bravely; when we are overwhelmed by our human condition, we will seek to bear it in joy trusting in your promises alone. Whatever we face, whatever and whenever it happens, wherever we may go in life - good or bad - draw us ever closer to you, keep us in the shadow of the cross, keep us near and nearer still to your heart. Fill us to over flowing with the oils of gladness, the ultimate love of Jesus and the ultimate comfort of the Holy Spirit. Transform us from the inside out, in spite of us, with joy of it getting better.

We place this petition before you in the sure hope that you will draw it close to your heart and find it authentic and ultimately pleasing in your sight. By your grace, Amen

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How to Sail Around the World

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Sailing around the world is an adventure of a lifetime. The constant movement, the changing winds and waters and the people you'll meet along the way comprise an incredible experience. If you have always wanted to sail around the world but have been overwhelmed by the prospect, simply follow these s...