{"id":14928,"date":"2026-07-04T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=14928"},"modified":"2026-04-30T12:33:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T17:33:49","slug":"joy-in-the-hope-of-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/04\/joy-in-the-hope-of-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy in the Hope of Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"793\" height=\"603\" src=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/\u2018He-will-wipe-every-tear-from-their-eyes.-There-will-be-no-more-death-or-mourning-or-crying-or-pain-for-the-old-order-of-things-has-passed-away.-Revelation-214.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/\u2018He-will-wipe-every-tear-from-their-eyes.-There-will-be-no-more-death-or-mourning-or-crying-or-pain-for-the-old-order-of-things-has-passed-away.-Revelation-214.png 793w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/\u2018He-will-wipe-every-tear-from-their-eyes.-There-will-be-no-more-death-or-mourning-or-crying-or-pain-for-the-old-order-of-things-has-passed-away.-Revelation-214-300x228.png 300w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/\u2018He-will-wipe-every-tear-from-their-eyes.-There-will-be-no-more-death-or-mourning-or-crying-or-pain-for-the-old-order-of-things-has-passed-away.-Revelation-214-768x584.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 793px) 100vw, 793px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My Dad froze both his feet while working in freezing temperatures in Pennsylvania in January. Only three months old at the time, I never saw my father walk without a limp. Suffering from gangrene, he lost his toes on his left foot and, eventually, the leg. At that point in his life, he had also lost his first wife to cancer, and two children, one stillborn, the other, only 1 \u00bd years old, died from pneumonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dad now resides in heaven, where God has wiped away his tears, restored his body, and he no longer suffers the losses he had in this world. The Lord promises that the suffering will end and we will experience a heavenly reality we can\u2019t even imagine. Our heavenly Father cares for us individually and gently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When my father walked through the pearly gates in 1986, he left behind the heartache of this world. His first wife and two daughters welcomed Dad. And one day, he\u2019ll welcome me when God calls me home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every tear you\u2019ve ever cried, God sees. He captures them in a bottle, holding everyone close. The pain we feel now won\u2019t last forever; it will end. The Lord promises an eternal future with everything completely restored, including us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The apostle John wrote Revelation from a vision he had while on the island of Patmos. He saw what the Lord&#8217;s final restoration will look like. John describes a deeply tender and personal moment between God and man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the old order passes away, new life begins. In the presence of God, we will bask in His glories without a care in the world. What we leave behind pales in comparison to what we will one day have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Reflection:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>What pain or sorrow are you carrying that you need to place in God\u2019s promise of restoration?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Joy Thought:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">God will wipe away every tear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-minute read. My Dad froze both his feet while working in freezing temperatures in Pennsylvania in January. Only three months old at the time, I never saw my father walk without a limp. Suffering from gangrene, he lost his toes on his left foot and, eventually, the leg. At that point in his life, he&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/04\/joy-in-the-hope-of-heaven\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Joy in the Hope of Heaven<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14928"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14933,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14928\/revisions\/14933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}