Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Verse 28 gets the most attention, but this verse is another earth-shaker. God in His foreknowledge has settled that we will become like His Son! If that doesn’t excite you, you don’t have any idea what he’s talking about. We live in every sort of human limitation on this earth, but we will be fully like Jesus when the time comes! Even in His human body Jesus walked on water, and after His resurrection He walked freely into a locked room, and then a few days later, rose bodily until He was obscured by a cloud. And that’s just the physical stuff! Of far more importance is that He was perfectly without sin. It has rightly been said that we have been saved from the penalty for sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we will be saved from the presence of sin. That’s what this verse is talking about. Every non-God impulse will be conquered, and we will be in perfect harmony with our Creator. We will be restored to the purity for which we were created, free from every lying trick of the devil. What a wonderful prospect! Songs tend to focus on such things as “walking streets of gold,” but doing so in perfect purity and holiness is even more wonderful. We really can’t imagine how wonderful it will be, but we can be fully assured that it will be wonderful!

I have been a Science Fiction buff since middle school, and right now I’m reading a novel that imagines quantum beings that merge with human consciousness, providing all sorts of super-human abilities. That doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what God has in store for me! However, my focus isn’t to be on all of that, but rather on the level of fellowship I will have with my Creator, who loved, and loves, me so much that He sent His Son to die in my place, to make this fellowship possible. That is the ultimate hope, the ultimate anticipation, and it is glorious beyond words. The thing is, I get to taste that even here. I’ve written before about an experience of God’s joy that was so deep, I felt like one more drop and my physical body would give up and call it quits. I couldn’t function normally on this earth if that were my constant state, but I will have no such limitations before God’s throne! When I will turn 78 next month, my body keeps reminding me that it’s not permanent. I was actually a little jealous of the brother whose funeral I conducted just over a week ago! However, that’s not to be my focus. Rather, I am to focus on what God has for me to do here and now, because I wouldn’t be here if He didn’t have more things for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10) I don’t know what the road ahead holds, but with Him, it will be good!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible plans for me. Thank You for the day at the gallery yesterday, with the fewest number of people but the most photo sales! Thank You for the service here his morning, and for all You have planned for it. Thank You for this afternoon, back at the gallery. I pray that each step, each moment would be as You desire, bringing Your plans to fruition for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!