Saturday, August 25th
            Good morning Kimberly,
            Here's Today's Devotional from The Vine...
            The Joy Set Before Him
            It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem. - Luke 9:51
            
There were many great and painful steps that Jesus needed to take 
before He could  reach this blessed hour and be received into glory. The
 immediate  future was full of struggle, loss, and pain. Jesus was able 
to see the splendor of heaven with its opening gates and its welcome 
home,  but before His feet could enter Heaven He needed to pass through a
 large  battlefield full of enemies. There were  days of toil and nights
 of loneliness. Finally He would pass through  Gethsemane's gloom, and 
all that led to Calvary. He  must die and go into the grave. All this 
before He could be received up.
However, He did not think of any of these painful steps. He did not 
let  His eye rest on the shadows that lay in the valley, but lifted it 
up to  the mountain-top beyond, where the splendors of heaven blazed. 
Keeping  His thoughts on His heavenly home that waited when He had  
ended the journey, He forgot the toils and the tears and didn't lose 
hope.
This is a wonderful secret which all of us ought to learn. We should 
not to  think so much about the toil and hardness of our journey, but to
 look beyond  to the "light at the end of the tunnel". Many of us go 
through life worrying and keep our eyes looking gloomily down on the 
path we are treading. We  see all the troubles, difficulties and 
discouragement, but we never  raise our eyes to see the joy, hope and 
blessings that wait for  us. We ought to learn this life-secret which 
made Christ forget the  shame and sorrow of His cross and see only the 
glory beyond. Learn to  look up toward heaven.
 
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