Your Heavenly Father has been making preparations for you from before the foundation of the world. The Bible says, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1Cor.2:9). That is why He sent Jesus into this world to go to the cross. It was to prepare you for Heaven. What glory there will be when you arrive there and the angels usher you into His presence!

Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2,3). Going to prepare a place for you does not mean that He would be going to Heaven to build you a mansion, but rather that He would be going to the cross to be sacrificed for your sins; and that would secure a place for you in Heaven!

The many mansions in His Father's house are not ours; they are God's. He purchased them for a very high price! They are part of His house--the place where He abides. God does not dwell in a place made by human hands (Acts 17:24). Only He is capable of building His house, and He has chosen to have many mansions as part of His dwelling place.

If you have given your life to Christ by receiving Him as your Lord and Savior, "YE ARE GOD'S BUILDING!" (1Cor.3:9). You are not just an ordinary building--God calls you a "Mansion"!

His entrance into His house is when Jesus enters the heart. One of the disciples asked Jesus how He would show Himself unto us and not unto the world; and He answered, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). The word "abode" in Greek is monay', "mansion." That is how He reveals Himself to us, by Him and the Father entering our hearts through the new birth. The world does not understand this, because they cannot see the interior of the "mansion."

God's houses are custom built right here on earth and then shipped to Heaven at a given time. Soon, all His many mansions will be gathered together in His house. This great gathering is referred to in the Bible as "The New Jerusalem" and "The Bride of Christ" (Rev.21:2).

You can trust your Heavenly Father to build your new life. He does everything perfectly; He is the expert Builder. Be careful how you respond when someone tells you that you should try to become a better Christian. This might sound like good advice, but they really are telling you to build your own spiritual house. If you get on that do-it-yourself road, you will turn out to be nothing but a religious performer in a manmade shack! Just let Christ build His house within you! The Bible says, "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Ps.127:1).

You are very valuable to God; the cross certainly proves that! Don't think of yourself as still being that old man who was crucified with Christ, but rather as a new creature in Christ (2Cor.5:17); and thank God for what He did on the cross of Calvary. Picture yourself, not as just a house for the Lord, but . . . a Mansion!

It is my prayer that this book "Mansions of Gold" will help you to understand how valuable you are in the sight of God.

Dick Stoddard