Category Archives: Christian Life

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The Life Ever After: The Truth of Heaven

0605002048Our view of heaven is too limited. There isn’t all that much information, I know.  Yet I believe heavenly life with the Savior is going to be amazing beyond prediction. That’s because He is amazing.

My thoughts are on heaven today. I am preparing a lesson about heaven for children. I don’t believe heaven is on the radar with most people. Can’t even say it’s on my radar all that much. It’s too out there, in another life. The present life seems a bit too frantic to even contemplate heaven during the daily busyness of living. But is it?

We’ve all heard the arguments. Why would anyone want to go to heaven ? Why would anyone not want to go to heaven?

What do you think heaven is really like? It’s a good question is it not? We have a scattering of ideas that come from passages sprinkled throughout the scriptures. People have written big books on heaven. I’m wading through Randy’s Alcorn’s study on heaven. A good read and convincing. Yet there isn’t all that much concrete information. There’s some conjecture. But, what is heaven really like?

What can we expect? Why would someone look forward to being there? In my lesson, I will talk about what is not in heaven: suffering, pain, sickness, evil, and so forth.  I will talk about what is in heaven: tree of life, book of life, celestial beings, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, homes, gold and jewels, people who have gone on before us, and so forth. Yet, it still can sound sort of tedious or boring. Is heaven boring?

The more I come to love my Savior and Father God, and to experience the Spirit’s life in me, the more I know that it is impossible to be bored in heaven. Life starts to get interesting once God is in control. Imagine the music. Wondrous harmonies. I think there will even be humor in heaven. Not boring in the least, contrary to what others may think who’ve not experienced God. Heaven could not be boring with Christ living there.

One reason heaven is so wonderful is that we will see with our eyes what we have by faith believed in our hearts.

There is another reason that Heaven will be the most amazing place ever. It has all to do with Son-ship. In heaven we will be family connected to the Source of all things living. This relatedness to the Triune God will put into our lives full acceptance and love. I have this feeling that everything will be brighter, more intense than in this shadowland we call earth. Once we are no longer mortal but have become immortal, we will rejuvenate and become ALL that we have ever wanted to be. There won’t be the endless striving and disappointments of the earthly journey. I am certain we will be more incredibly ALIVE, more radically FULL, more fully COMPLETE than we can even imagine.

Can you imagine that? What it will be like when our faith becomes sight, when we see our blessed Lord, the scars in His hands, the wounds in His feet, and we know Him in His heavenly presence. Wow!

I have long felt that the earth, in its groaning and suffering with its struggle under sin’s curse, is like something bound in a closed system. At times there are glimpses into the heavenly realm. For the past few years I have been seeking God with an intense fervor. I want to know God. At times I experience a joy and fullness that is overwhelmingly beautiful.

One time it happened while I was singing in church with the worship team. There was such spontaneous joy inside of me that I could barely contain myself. I felt like shouting and jumping up and down. It felt as if beams of light were radiating out from me. My smile was so big that I probably looked foolish. This happened to me during a time of personal crisis in my life, when I was drawing deep from God’s well.  I wonder if that will be the way of rejoicing and worshiping in heaven? I sure hope so.

Heaven will be a “safe house,” a home that is welcoming, serene, loving and radiant. I love it that Jesus says, “In my father’s house are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you.” We are “family” in Jesus’ “Father’s house.”

Another time, I was writing at the computer after spending a long while in prayer and meditation. It was in the morning. I was looking out the kitchen window. The clouds were glorious and I was watching them change shapes. For a moment, just a moment, I saw varied colors transfusing the sky in indescribable colors, rich and bright. Then they were gone. I wondered at it. Was it a glimpse into the heavenlies of God? It was as if I saw through a veil into a place of grandeur.

There are many reasons to anticipate heaven Just to walk with Jesus will be a miracle of peace and joy. The difficulties of the earthly realm will fade away into oblivion. Past hurts will lose their hold on us. People who have wronged us will be fully forgiven and enjoyed in renewed relationship.

Jesus says, ” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.”  Jesus is the way, the Gatekeeper, we must pass to get there.

The Bible is the road map that tells us the directions to heaven.
Jesus Christ is the Way to get to heaven. He is the Truth and the Life.
There is no other way. No shortcuts or bribes or good deeds are enough.
A person cannot pay their way into heaven. …Not to worry. It is a free gift called salvation.
We are saved by Christ’s redeeming love through His shed blood on the cross.

Heaven is a by-product of a life hidden in Christ.

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Encouragement During the Down Times

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I was in the midst of sorrowing, my heart unhappy and sad. An unusual occurrence made the day brighter. I share it with you. From 2008.

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A dried out baby rose in a clear vase sits with several companion blooms in a dark corner. For close to a month they sat on my kitchen counter until I relegated them to the top shelf of a bookcase out of sight. They signified a memory meaningful only to me and were losing some of their beauty.  Once in awhile, I would look at the tiny blossoms, fragile petals in variegated pink hues, the last bouquet from a friend whom had been dear to me.

A glance would transport me back to better days when life seemed to have more promise, more joy.

Over the course of the ensuing months, on occasion I would look at the roses to see if there were any changes or if they should be cast in the awaiting waste basket.  They remained the same, still-life, heads down.  I couldn’t bring myself to toss them out.  I missed my friend, a sliver of sorrow would clutch my heart, and I wished life had given a different outcome.

Then one day as I finished having a lengthy time alone with God and was getting ready to go on with my day, a heaviness in my heart making the day seem dark, when something arrested my attention.  A small whisper came to me, entering into my thoughts, “Go look at the flowers.”  I gathered myself from the place where I sat and entered the room.  The dried roses were there, the same as always.  Nothing had changed.  I walked closer to them, carefully removing the vase off the high shelf as I looked intently at the dried petals.

I noticed some dust particles and a few miniscule webs crisscrossing their delicate heads.

The whisper spoke again and said, “See the one that’s not drooping down?  Look at it.”  Sure enough, there was one rose in the center of the bouquet with its dried blossom looking out and slightly up.  The other roses were drooping in quiet deadness.  “Its name is Hope.”  The thought quickly framed itself in my mind, and I focused on that one uplifted bloom reaching high to elevate its head.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I gently replaced the vase.  “Flowers having names?” the question floated through my thoughts.  “Do you think the Creator names His creations?” I mused to myself as I returned to my tasks.  My spirits lifted, and I felt lighter.  I was encouraged by a dried up little flower that had the good fortune to be named, Hope. Its message became mine. There is always hope. 

Throughout the day I thought about hope, hope during those times when we are in need, and hope when all is right in our lives.

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Today I needed its strength, its reminder.  My eyes searched for it, rested a moment, to see its little face looking up. Reassured, I went on with my day, a small element of peace settling my feelings of discomfort. Yes, it offers me a small blessing in the complicated thoughts of my day.  I am thankful for my little gift, my encourager that helps me refocus when hard moments come my way. I still have my vase of blooms, one move and six years later.

Hope is a sweet blessing who never loses her hope.