My Destination!

 

The words to a newer song, Hymn of Heaven, keep echoing in my mind. “How I long to breathe the air of Heaven, Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets.”  Before you jump to any conclusions, let me say – I am not sick nor depressed! I am just thinking about “home.”   So much of what we commonly think of Heaven really misses the true wonder of the place God has prepared for us. We tend to make Heaven into a world just like the present subtracting things like having to go to work, get sick, or deal with mean people!  

Often, even mature Christians let their hope of Heaven form around their imaginary ‘best day on earth forever.’  If Heaven is about joy, then we assume that these kinds of things must be what that place is about. There is much we cannot know while we are here, we do know that heaven is full of wonder, and best of all, where we will know our Abba completely and intimately.

Christ gives us the key to a new home that is ‘immeasurably more than all we could ask or think.’  Heaven is not earth minus sorrow and sickness. Heaven is a whole new, wonderful existence in the Presence of God.  

The Bible only sketches the outlines of what Heaven. Even if the Lord tried to explain it all to us, we just wouldn't get it. The writers of Scripture used the language available to them to try describe what God showed them, visions for which there were no earthly words. Isaiah, Zechariah, and John tell us about amazing creatures that circle a Throne, about smoke, and seas of glass. We must not doubt the vision, but we are wise to understand that they are attempting to tell us about a completely unearthly place! Thus, we must not force the metaphors too literally. If we do, we may miss the true wonder of what God has planned for our eternal home.

What do we know about Heaven that brings us hope and keeps us on track while we wait to go there?

God is there!

"Uh, Jerry, how about something I don't know." I mean it! The God we've loved from a distance, our Father whose purposes and plans sometimes confuse us, will be our Friend.  He will be accessible. In Heaven we will worship Him face to face. "Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." (Revelation 21:3-4, NLT)  When I was a kid one of the blessings of my life was a strong family. All was right with my world when Dad sat down with us and made me feel secure. We will be with the Father and all will be well!

The beauty of it is beyond imagination.

John talks about dazzling splendor, streets of gold, and pearly gates – metaphorical descriptions of God’s own home, which we will share. God is the Builder, the Architect, of the place where I will spend eternity. When I see what He's created here, a place that is just a temporary home - I can only try imagine what He's done with the forever home He's prepared for His people.

All things are made new- no rust, no death, no sin!

"And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:5, NLT)  I’m a ‘car guy.’  I like mine to shine and I have enjoyed buying new ones throughout my life. However, it does not take very long before the the new shows signs of use.  A chunk of ice hit dents the hood. Stones in the road ding the paint. The carpet gets dirty  in spite of my efforts to keep it clean. That's just life! Everything we know is subject to decay and all living things ultimately die. But, in Heaven, it's different. God promises no rust, no thieves, no moths! Jesus urges us to "Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy..." (Matthew 6:20, NLT)

Joy will be complete!

Life's happiest moments are always limited.  Vacations are too short. Joyful occasions, so much anticipated, come and go too quickly.  Before we know it, we have grown old. But in Heaven, time stands still and joys never end.

I hope you know this well, but let me remind you of it anyway.  You cannot earn your home in God’s heaven. No amount of religion, goodness, generosity, or discipline buys your ‘mansion.’   Actually, to attempt that is an insult to God who has provided us the gift at great expense to Himself.  "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6, NLT)

Is your destination the same as mine?
Let’s walk together, finding joy in the journey, until we hear our welcome home.

Here is a word from Word. I pray it inspires faith, hope, and love in you for this day. "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:34, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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 Hymn Of Heaven

How I long to breathe the air of Heaven
Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets
To look upon the one who bled to save me
And walk with Him for all eternity

There will be a day
When all will bow before Him
There will be a day
When death will be no more
Standing face to face
With He who died and rose again
Holy holy is the Lord

And ev'ry prayer we prayed in desperation
The songs of faith
We sang through doubt and fear
In the end we’ll see that it was worth it
When He returns to wipe away our tears

And on that day we join the resurrection
And stand beside the heroes of the faith
With one voice a thousand generations
Sing worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Forever He shall reign

So let it be today
We shout the hymn of Heaven
With angels and the Saints
We raise a mighty roar
Glory to our God
Who gave us life beyond the grave
Holy holy is the Lord
Holy holy is the Lord
Holy holy is the Lord

 

Bill Johnson | Brian Johnson | Chris Davenport | Phil Wickham

© 2020 CDavs Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Songs for TIM (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Phil Wickham Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Simply Global Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Bethel Music Publishing

 

CCLI License # 810055

 

Trivial Pursuit?

 

In 1981  a game was released that became a national sensation, one I played with friends often well into the night 35 years ago. It was called Trivial Pursuit. I do not know if it is still around but it sure was fun back then. The goal was to answer enough questions about ‘trivia’ to complete your game piece before others did. Somehow knowing little factoids about the history and entertainment made us feel like winners.  So what’s with mentioning that game today?

In the past 7 days I have spoken at 3 funerals: 2 for young men, 1 for an older man. I have left each of those encounters asking myself if I am living in way that matters or if I am merely playing “trivial pursuit?”  Memorial services are so different. Some are celebratory occasions where people remember a wonderful person’s contribution to the world. Sometimes I can feel the sorrow and anger in the room because the deceased left behind a whole lot of regrets, unfinished business, or broken hearts. Sometimes I there is little to say. Others there are not enough words.  

The late Stephen Covey taught that those who live most effectively always ‘begin with the end in mind.’   If we are aware of the finite amount of time we have here on earth and match that with heavenly hope, we will surely live in a way that is better!  

One does not have to be preoccupied with dying in order to live wisely. However, fools live as though there is always going to be a tomorrow. The truth is that we are not spending time, we are investing it. Wise investors find rich rewards!  

I keep my mind and heart familiar with Moses’ Psalm in which we read this prayer:  
"Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty.
But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we are gone." (Psalm 90:10, NLT)  So …
"Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, NLT)  

Christians understand that life is a continuum – that when the lid on the casket closes it is ‘an end’ but not ‘the end.’  This life to which we are so attached is actually the temporary one. The permanent awaits. "For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing."  (2 Corinthians 5:1-2, NLT)   

Those who keep ‘step with the Spirit’  have made the connection of passing world with the eternal.  So, at  death,  they step from time to eternity, entering fully into what they already know in part. Death is a transition point, one life exchanged for another, not a final destination. When we are alive in Christ, the Bible says that the sting of death is removed,  the dark sorrow brightened by the certain hope that "the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54, NIV)

Two questions beg our responses.

Are  we ready to meet God?  And …
Have we left behind no unfinished business?

 Here’s a word from the Word. Make it your hope through Christ Jesus Who gives life eternal through grace unmeasured! I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:24-27, NIV)

 

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Hymn Of Heaven

How I long to breathe the air of Heaven
Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets
To look upon the one who bled to save me
And walk with Him for all eternity

There will be a day
When all will bow before Him
There will be a day
When death will be no more
Standing face to face
With He who died and rose again
Holy holy is the Lord

And ev'ry prayer we prayed in desperation
The songs of faith
We sang through doubt and fear
In the end we’ll see that it was worth it
When He returns to wipe away our tears

And on that day we join the resurrection
And stand beside the heroes of the faith
With one voice a thousand generations
Sing worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Forever He shall reign

So let it be today
We shout the hymn of Heaven
With angels and the Saints
We raise a mighty roar
Glory to our God
Who gave us life beyond the grave
Holy holy is the Lord
Holy holy is the Lord
Holy holy is the Lord

 

Bill Johnson | Brian Johnson | Chris Davenport | Phil Wickham

© 2020 CDavs Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Songs for TIM (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Phil Wickham Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Simply Global Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Bethel Music Publishing

 

CCLI License # 810055

Diamonds or Dust?

 

Motives can be a hard to discern, even in ourselves, but they matter; they really do!  Last week I had the opportunity to care for a homeless person, finding housing for her, providing some resources. As it turned out, she took advantage of my kindness, as she has done to others, I found out later on.  My motive for helping was revealed in my response. Was I irritated at her? Did I feel resentment? No. Why? Because what I did, I did for Jesus’ sake, knowing that was His desire for me.  If I had done it with the hope of appreciation, I might have become angry.  

Christian, our eternal rewards will result mostly from the ‘why’ that laid behind the ‘what’ in our lives. There is a passage in First Corinthians that says this. "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." (1 Corinthians 3:10-15, NIV) 

Those words are both cautionary and full of promise at the same time.  What we do ‘for Christ’ will be judged by the Lord, subjected to a test of purity, as we stand before His Throne. In His gaze, those ‘ministries’ we did to serve our own reputation and to enhance our own status will disappear in a puff of smoke!  Sermons preached for any reason other than to lift up Christ, no matter how doctrinally sound, will be erased. Charitable gifts given for recognition – gone from the eternal record. Songs sung for applause – silenced!  But, those things done because we love Jesus will glisten like gems for all eternity.

Jesus cautioned His disciples not to emulate the religious leaders of His time who were very careful to protect their reputation as ‘holy men.’  They wore their religious symbols prominently, took care not to rub shoulders with ‘sinners,’ made a show of their giving at the Temple, and prayed loud prayers in public. Pointing to them, He said “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Matthew 6:1, NIV)  Much of what they did was good, but the rot of Self in their motivation robbed them of their reward. They got only what they really  desired – the admiration of others.

Let me digress here for a moment. This does not mean that we cannot give appreciation to those who serve well.  We should. Nor does it mean that we should never do anything “Christian” which attracts the attention of other people. Jesus teaches us that we are to be “the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV)  Humble servants who do what they do – giving, sharing, loving, serving – in Christ’s Name with no thought of self, actually become lighthouses of hope in this dark world. We do well to thank them, too.

Faithfulness in service and devotion comes from our hope in the One who sees all, knows all, and forgets nothing.  Simply said, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42, NIV)  So, what will come of your life’s work, friend? Will there be diamonds or just dust?  Will the gaze of Jesus, our Lord, reveal a heart of devotion or hypocrisy?  We do well to pray for discernment of our own heart, guided by the Spirit, so that our best efforts will find rich reward.

The word from the Word is rich in promise. “Godly people give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will never be forgotten.” For God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will give you many opportunities to do good, and he will produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will break out in thanksgiving to God. So two good things will happen—the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanksgiving to God. You will be glorifying God through your generous gifts. For your generosity to them will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the wonderful grace of God shown through you." (2 Corinthians 9:9-14, NLT)   

Lord, may our lives be overflowing with generosity of spirit towards others as we serve You. Amen 

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Oh Lord You're Beautiful 

Oh Lord You're beautiful
Your face is all I seek
And when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to me

I want to take Your Word
And shine it all around
First help me just to live it Lord
And when I'm doing well
Help me to never seek a crown
For my reward is giving glory to You 

Oh Lord please light the fire
That once burned bright and clear
Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with holy fear

Keith Green © 1980 Universal Music - Brentwood Benson Publishing

Birdwing Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055