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PARADISE – Jonathan and Dianne Wilson [The video portion of this devotional is not available on your device. To view this video, visit your plan at www.youversion.com] I wonder what your idea of Paradise is? The word Paradise evokes all sorts of images. Maybe you think of an idyllic place, a perfect location, a state of being, or heaven beyond this world. The story of God and humanity begins and ends in Paradise. Its Genesis, in a place called Eden, and it’s culmination in the Revelation of a new heaven and earth. It’s not surprising therefore that there’s something inside each one of us that wants to discover the place where our story began and where it finds its completion. God created a Paradise for us here on earth. It was a perfect place, without pain, sorrow or loss, and where Adam and Eve walked with God in a perfect relationship. But Paradise was lost when they chose to act independently from God. Ever since that time, humankind has longed for and searched in vain for that Paradise which was lost. The message of the gospel tells us that the place that was lost can be found in the person of Jesus Christ. God sent His Son Jesus from heaven to earth so that all that was lost through the fall of man could be restored through His life, death and resurrection. When the thief who hung on the cross next to Jesus called out to Him for forgiveness, Jesus said to him "today you will be with Me in Paradise." Jesus not only came to make a way for us to get to heaven, but He came to bring heaven to earth. He said “pray to your Father in heaven, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In essence, Paradise is the place whether in heaven or on earth where God's presence fills all and is in all. Where His love and power reign supreme. Where His Kingdom has come and His will is done. Our heartfelt prayer, our singular purpose and our all-consuming passion is to see God’s Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That “His presence might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest)” Eph 4:10 Amp May you sense God's presence today wherever you are, whatever is happening in your world and together may we see His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. “There’s nothing like living in Your light in the glow of Your paradise” – Echo