Devotionals for the Heart: How to live as a citizen of Heaven while on Earth

Living as Citizens of Heaven
A devotional by Cherie Mendez

“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.”—Philippians 3:20 (NLT)

There’s no doubt that we live in unprecedented times. Everywhere we look in this post-pandemic world, it seems like our “normal” way of doing things and living life on this earth may never come back.

To many, it appears that the world is “falling apart”, but for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, we know everything is falling into place. In fact, for the Christian there should be an excitement for Jesus to return to Earth to take us home to Heaven. The Bible is clear that we will not know the day nor the hour when Christ will return (Matthew 24:36).

But we will know the season. Matthew 24:37-39 (NLT) tells us, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.”

Jesus could come back right now, or many years from now. Regardless, the questions we must ponder and answer are: How should we live? What should be our highest priority? According to Scripture, God has made it very clear that we are called to love God and love others.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (NLT) says, “Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.” God has given every believer at least one spiritual gift to use for the church. He has also given each of us the ability to do certain things well. Our abilities show what specific ministries we are to do for God.

What are you naturally good at? God wants to use your gifts for His purpose. Hebrews 13:21 (NLT) tells us, “may he equip you with all you need for doing his will.” When we put our God-given gifts into practice, the world will see a living, breathing example of Christianity.

The world has itching ears. Everyone is always looking for the next best self-help guru or podcast that tells them what they want to hear, but when they see someone living and speaking clear biblical truth, they may not understand, but they will know it’s authentic.

When I first became a believer, I was very legalistic. Everyone at my job thought I was crazy. I constantly felt like I had to speak to others in a Christian lingo and openly kept my Bible on my desk. I thought I was “doing the Lord’s work”. But sadly, I was really pushing people away.

One day I met a young man (who would later become my husband.) He was honest with me about how “religious” I was coming across to people. What he said hit a nerve. It also showed me how self-righteous I had become. That was such a humbling experience to see how much I didn’t understand God’s grace.

The beautiful thing about the grace of God is that we can see how unworthy we are to receive it. There is nothing more freeing than to discover that in and of myself, I could never earn my way into Heaven.

With that new perspective, I finally felt the freedom to just be myself and let Jesus speak through me as I felt His leading. I was amazed to see that I wasn’t scaring people away anymore. In fact, some people asked for prayer and others even joined me for church.

Understanding the grace of God and knowing that we are eternally lost without Him will give us everything we need to live authentically for Jesus. It will come across in our speech and our actions.

Here are three ways we can live as citizens of Heaven while living on Earth:

1. Spend time in God’s Word. We won’t always feel God. Most of the time God simply speaks to us through His Word (The Holy Bible). Psalm 119:105 (NLT) says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

2. Attend a good church. We need to be fellowshipping with other believers for encouragement. Hebrews 10:25 (NLT) says, “And let us not neglect meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

3. Share your faith. God has called every believer to be a disciple and make disciples. To take every opportunity. Ephesians 5:15-16 (NLT) says, “So be careful how you live. Do not live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”

This world is decaying. If we can be a living, breathing example of Jesus then we will be the “fragrance rising up to God.” Let’s read about this in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NLT): “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.”

God gave us a free will. Therefore, every day we wake up with a choice to submit to God and follow Jesus as our top priority or disobey Him and push Him away. The more we choose to keep Jesus first, the more peace and joy we will experience regardless of what life throws at us.

Let’s Pray:

Dear God,

Thank You for Your grace that gives us what we don’t deserve. Thank You for dying for us so that we can live an abundant life in You. Thank You for your patience with us and I pray that You will enable us to live and act in a way that glorifies You.

In the precious name of Jesus Christ I pray,

Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Living Hope” by Phil Wickham. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Cherie Mendez is a professional actress and photographer. 

Her passion is to help women understand their true worth and walk in their God-given purpose. After many years working as a Christian in the entertainment industry, she is thankful to be able to share all her learning experiences in her blog posts and on Instagram.

Some of the topics Cherie loves to write about are:

· Coping with rejection

· Finding your purpose and using your talent for God’s glory

· How God always looks at the heart and the meaning of inner beauty

· Understanding that we are all a work in progress and God is not done with us yet

Cherie’s TV credits include The Equalizer, Bull, and Blue Bloods (CBS). She also appeared in the PureFlix film Revelation Road 3: The Black Rider.

Cherie and her husband Jimmy live in Texas. They are thankful to have been married for 30 years. In their free time, they enjoy traveling, photography, and movie night.

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Connect with Cherie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheriemendez/