If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you are saved and have begun your eternal life. That makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. So it looks like we are going to spend eternity together with Jesus and our Father in the kingdom of Heaven, free from all the evils in this world, in an existence where evil and our own flesh will have no more influence on us, free from all our weaknesses and infirmities.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2-3)
"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thes 4:16-17)
So once we've passed from this life, we will always be with our Lord and we will be like Him.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." (Rev 21:1-3)
"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." (1 Corinthians 2:9).
I don't know about you, but I figure if that's the case, I can imagine some pretty wonderful stuff! I like to think we'll get to do whatever good thing we want, and there will be no more bad. Sometimes I like to fantasize what it will be like for me.
I figure I'll be able to fly without wings if I feel like it, just as I've done so often in my dreams. I might want to fly around the stars in the heavens with my friends and explore different galaxies and planets. Maybe I'll be able to ride a motorcycle 150 miles an hour off a high cliff without a parachute, which I've always thought would be fun to do on earth with a parachute. We'll probably be able to walk on water, and through walls like Jesus did after His resurrection, just for the fun of it.
I certainly hope to see my loved ones again. I hope to see those that I have hurt here on earth who have since passed away, like my dad, so I can tell him how sorry I am that I hurt him.
I also want my mom and other beloved family members and friends to be there for sure. I long to see my mom there, free and dancing around and having a delightful time after her last sixteen years on earth confined to a wheel chair, suffering from severe dementia in a nursing home.
And I want all my pets in this life to be there too. It wouldn't quite be heaven for me if they're not. I am hoping to see all of mine again, especially my dogs, and my favorite horse Sammy who I had to shoot when he broke his leg. I want to tell him that I sure didn't want to hurt him like that.
After all, if heaven is a perfect existence, then it must include everything I want in it, right? Or at least that's what I think now, trying to imagine it with my earthly mind.
What would heaven be like for you? I think there's no harm in imagining it the way you would like it to be.
I like to believe that we will have a full recollection of our lives here on earth, and get to see people we knew here on earth who've been saved, and spend time with them again, while also being able to reminisce about the times we had together in this life. After all, we will be able to spend an eternity of time, without end, with each other as well as with our Lord!
And we may be able to have a lion for a pet! Imagine cuddling with a lion! The Bible says that "the lion will lie down with the lamb." And in Revelation, John saw Jesus come down riding a white horse. Maybe we will get to swim with and talk to the whales and finally find out exactly what they've been saying to each other all these years.
But no matter what, I'm sure that none of us will feel like we missed out on anything during our previous life on earth! Not one thing!
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I believe that heaven must include the perfectly good versions of every good thing here on earth, and then some. Once we get to heaven, we will realize we didn't miss out on anything, even if we spend our whole life on earth in prison.
I am in prison on earth by physical, financial, emotional, mental, and time limitations, even though I'm not behind bars. There are many wonderful things I won't ever get to experience here on earth.
Paul wrote "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And a whole lifetime on earth is just a flash in the pan compared to eternity!
We are all made wonderfully unique by God. There's a lot of people I've known throughout the years that I hope will be there, because of the unique qualities about them that I liked.
I personally think there are people walking the face of the earth who are purely evil, like maybe Hitler was for example. But for the most part, I know there are uniquely good qualities about almost everyone, including you! I know that there are some really good qualities about me, too. There's no one else who has ever lived that has the exactly same good qualities as you or I.
We also have poor qualities, or imperfections, right now, but they will not endure once we're transformed and glorified like our Lord Jesus.
Think of how God must be. First of all, He is the Most High Almighty God, the Creator and Master of the whole Universe! Secondly, there is no evil in Him whatsoever: He is perfectly and completely good, the sum total of all good qualities about everyone and everything, and then some, without any of the bad by-products. Third, He loves His children like a good parent loves a child, but with a perfectly good and completely unconditional love.
And this Incredible God, the King of the Universe has actually hand-picked you among all the people on earth who have ever lived to be one of His adopted children, because He wants you to be with Him where He will be for the rest of eternity!
"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world ... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will..." (Ephesians 1:4-5)
He wants you to be there with Him for all eternity according to the good pleasure of His will! Can you imagine that?
I have to keep reminding myself of that, because I've been used to thinking of myself as worthless and foolish. That's how the devil wants me to think about myself, but I don't want to serve Satan. I cannot serve two masters, so I must choose to believe God and ignore Satan.
And I know that if the King of the Universe thinks so highly of me to draw me to Himself, it's time for me to start looking at myself the way He sees me. Who am I to disagree with God, who knows all the good and bad about me better than I know myself? In fact, He not only knows who I've always been, He knows who I'm going to be once He is finished with me. "...He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ..." (Philippians 1:6)
He will take me when He's finished with me. Notice I didn't say that He will take me when I want to go, I said He will take me when He is finished with me.
This life on earth can be painful and miserable for us at times, and because of what's wrong with me, I have caused a lot of pain in others. I have hurt a lot of people, especially ones I love. In the past, I've felt like if I had never been born, at least I couldn't have hurt them.
Many times when I've felt too miserable about the things I've done wrong that have hurt others, too miserable to want to live anymore, and I fear that it might get unbearable, I just want to die. For my own sake, I want to bail out, to escape the evil and misery of my life on this earth, and so that I can no longer hurt anyone else. But then I would die in my selfishness, just like Satan was cast out of Heaven for his. And if I kill myself, it would really please Satan. He wants me destroyed. I would die serving Satan as my god!
I hate Satan, that filthy source of all vile, repulsive, and hateful things! I despise Satan and his evil. I hate the evil in this world. I denounce Satan and all his works! Satan is not my lord, and I refuse to die in service to him! And I must refuse to listen to his lies about me and about others.
So instead, I've chosen at those weak times in my past to remain living, as my sacrifice to my Lord Jesus. Jesus said "He who loves his life will lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:25)
I love Jesus, not only because He loved me first, not only because of His loving sacrifice on the cross for me, the free gift of salvation He gave me, but also because of His perfect goodness and complete lack of evil! I love His righteousness. God is our perfect Father who loves us more than anyone on earth ever could, and I am His adopted son. So no matter how painful it gets, I have decided to serve the only Good and Just and Faithful King of the Universe, by choosing to keep living as long as He wants me to. My life is a living sacrifice to Him.
So I know that I must keep my sights set on Jesus my Savior, and serve only Him. And I know that if I am serving Him with my sacrifice of living, then He will help me through it all, no matter what comes. After all, that's what any good master would do for his servant. If I am serving Him by living, then He will help me serve Him by helping me live.
At times, the only thing I've had to hold on to is knowing that Jesus is on my side because He knows I'm on His side, and that He cares about me as if I were His one and only.
So while I have to be here anyway, I want Him to use me any way He wants to. Just like the parable of the talents, I want Jesus to say to me when He sees me, "Hey Terry! I'm glad you're here! You were a good and faithful servant to me, you did the best you could, now come with me and share the rewards of our work together!"
But I don't want to be busy doing what I think I should do, I want to be available to do what He asks me to do. So I try to rest in Him and listen to His leading, and He directs me through the Holy Spirit in me. I believe that when it "occurs to me" to do something that I am sure would be a good thing according to Him, I believe it is the Holy Spirit putting the thought in my head.
I've written this because it occurred to me one morning when I was planning to do something else. After it occurred to me, I thought about it and decided it could be a good thing. And hopefully it will give you hope and boost your spirits. If it helps you in a good way, then I have served Jesus today.
"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed. Then they said unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:27-29)
I used to see my past as a set of scales in my mind; on one side, the pile of the good things I've done, and on the other side, the pile of my failures and the bad things I've done. And the bad side has always outweighed the good side in my mind. Whenever I would start feeling pretty good about myself, I would sit back for a moment and double-check the scale. It's always looked still too heavy on the bad side! Then I'm "back to reality" about myself, feeling no good and worthless. It deflates my spirit, takes the wind out of my sails, and makes me feel like nothing good I ever do matters. And Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
But now that I'm saved and I'm learning what God's Word says, I am learning the truth. The scale is gone, and there is only one pile now. It's the pile of things I've done in the love of God and with the love of God. It's the pile of things I have done that serve Him.
Staying alive for Him when I'd rather be dead, I think, is a big chunk on my good pile. Then, also, Jesus told us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." and "Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto Me." and "Love your enemies." Whatever we do to love others in His name, that is good service to Him!
The beauty of it is that once we are forgiven, there's no more bad pile at all. When I decided to make Jesus my Lord, He made the bad pile and the scale disappear. There is no more weight of wrongs against us. When we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to remove them from us "as far as the east is from the west".
And even though there's nothing we can do to take back the pain we have caused others, especially those who are no longer alive, all we can do is trust that God knew what was happening, and pray that He was covering for us and watching over them too!
You can serve the Lord whoever and wherever you are. He loves your praise, your prayers, and your contentment and thankfulness for what you have. You serve God by refusing to obey Satan. You're serving God when you believe in and trust Jesus, and denounce the lies of Satan in your head. Whatever good things you think, say, or do for His sake serves Him.
You can be a witness for Christ to others just by the way you are, just by the freedom and joy you exhibit to others as the good fruit of trusting Him as your Savior.
There's lots of people I'd like to see in heaven who need to know that they, too, can be forgiven for all the wrong things they've done, no matter how bad, by crying out to God for forgiveness and surrendering their lives to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And I will do what I can to see that happen.
"And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise Him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2-3)
"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thes 4:16-17)
So once we've passed from this life, we will always be with our Lord and we will be like Him.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." (Rev 21:1-3)
"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." (1 Corinthians 2:9).
I don't know about you, but I figure if that's the case, I can imagine some pretty wonderful stuff! I like to think we'll get to do whatever good thing we want, and there will be no more bad. Sometimes I like to fantasize what it will be like for me.
I figure I'll be able to fly without wings if I feel like it, just as I've done so often in my dreams. I might want to fly around the stars in the heavens with my friends and explore different galaxies and planets. Maybe I'll be able to ride a motorcycle 150 miles an hour off a high cliff without a parachute, which I've always thought would be fun to do on earth with a parachute. We'll probably be able to walk on water, and through walls like Jesus did after His resurrection, just for the fun of it.
I certainly hope to see my loved ones again. I hope to see those that I have hurt here on earth who have since passed away, like my dad, so I can tell him how sorry I am that I hurt him.
I also want my mom and other beloved family members and friends to be there for sure. I long to see my mom there, free and dancing around and having a delightful time after her last sixteen years on earth confined to a wheel chair, suffering from severe dementia in a nursing home.
And I want all my pets in this life to be there too. It wouldn't quite be heaven for me if they're not. I am hoping to see all of mine again, especially my dogs, and my favorite horse Sammy who I had to shoot when he broke his leg. I want to tell him that I sure didn't want to hurt him like that.
After all, if heaven is a perfect existence, then it must include everything I want in it, right? Or at least that's what I think now, trying to imagine it with my earthly mind.
What would heaven be like for you? I think there's no harm in imagining it the way you would like it to be.
I like to believe that we will have a full recollection of our lives here on earth, and get to see people we knew here on earth who've been saved, and spend time with them again, while also being able to reminisce about the times we had together in this life. After all, we will be able to spend an eternity of time, without end, with each other as well as with our Lord!
And we may be able to have a lion for a pet! Imagine cuddling with a lion! The Bible says that "the lion will lie down with the lamb." And in Revelation, John saw Jesus come down riding a white horse. Maybe we will get to swim with and talk to the whales and finally find out exactly what they've been saying to each other all these years.
But no matter what, I'm sure that none of us will feel like we missed out on anything during our previous life on earth! Not one thing!
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I believe that heaven must include the perfectly good versions of every good thing here on earth, and then some. Once we get to heaven, we will realize we didn't miss out on anything, even if we spend our whole life on earth in prison.
I am in prison on earth by physical, financial, emotional, mental, and time limitations, even though I'm not behind bars. There are many wonderful things I won't ever get to experience here on earth.
Paul wrote "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And a whole lifetime on earth is just a flash in the pan compared to eternity!
We are all made wonderfully unique by God. There's a lot of people I've known throughout the years that I hope will be there, because of the unique qualities about them that I liked.
I personally think there are people walking the face of the earth who are purely evil, like maybe Hitler was for example. But for the most part, I know there are uniquely good qualities about almost everyone, including you! I know that there are some really good qualities about me, too. There's no one else who has ever lived that has the exactly same good qualities as you or I.
We also have poor qualities, or imperfections, right now, but they will not endure once we're transformed and glorified like our Lord Jesus.
Think of how God must be. First of all, He is the Most High Almighty God, the Creator and Master of the whole Universe! Secondly, there is no evil in Him whatsoever: He is perfectly and completely good, the sum total of all good qualities about everyone and everything, and then some, without any of the bad by-products. Third, He loves His children like a good parent loves a child, but with a perfectly good and completely unconditional love.
And this Incredible God, the King of the Universe has actually hand-picked you among all the people on earth who have ever lived to be one of His adopted children, because He wants you to be with Him where He will be for the rest of eternity!
"According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world ... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will..." (Ephesians 1:4-5)
He wants you to be there with Him for all eternity according to the good pleasure of His will! Can you imagine that?
I have to keep reminding myself of that, because I've been used to thinking of myself as worthless and foolish. That's how the devil wants me to think about myself, but I don't want to serve Satan. I cannot serve two masters, so I must choose to believe God and ignore Satan.
And I know that if the King of the Universe thinks so highly of me to draw me to Himself, it's time for me to start looking at myself the way He sees me. Who am I to disagree with God, who knows all the good and bad about me better than I know myself? In fact, He not only knows who I've always been, He knows who I'm going to be once He is finished with me. "...He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ..." (Philippians 1:6)
He will take me when He's finished with me. Notice I didn't say that He will take me when I want to go, I said He will take me when He is finished with me.
This life on earth can be painful and miserable for us at times, and because of what's wrong with me, I have caused a lot of pain in others. I have hurt a lot of people, especially ones I love. In the past, I've felt like if I had never been born, at least I couldn't have hurt them.
Many times when I've felt too miserable about the things I've done wrong that have hurt others, too miserable to want to live anymore, and I fear that it might get unbearable, I just want to die. For my own sake, I want to bail out, to escape the evil and misery of my life on this earth, and so that I can no longer hurt anyone else. But then I would die in my selfishness, just like Satan was cast out of Heaven for his. And if I kill myself, it would really please Satan. He wants me destroyed. I would die serving Satan as my god!
I hate Satan, that filthy source of all vile, repulsive, and hateful things! I despise Satan and his evil. I hate the evil in this world. I denounce Satan and all his works! Satan is not my lord, and I refuse to die in service to him! And I must refuse to listen to his lies about me and about others.
So instead, I've chosen at those weak times in my past to remain living, as my sacrifice to my Lord Jesus. Jesus said "He who loves his life will lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." (John 12:25)
I love Jesus, not only because He loved me first, not only because of His loving sacrifice on the cross for me, the free gift of salvation He gave me, but also because of His perfect goodness and complete lack of evil! I love His righteousness. God is our perfect Father who loves us more than anyone on earth ever could, and I am His adopted son. So no matter how painful it gets, I have decided to serve the only Good and Just and Faithful King of the Universe, by choosing to keep living as long as He wants me to. My life is a living sacrifice to Him.
So I know that I must keep my sights set on Jesus my Savior, and serve only Him. And I know that if I am serving Him with my sacrifice of living, then He will help me through it all, no matter what comes. After all, that's what any good master would do for his servant. If I am serving Him by living, then He will help me serve Him by helping me live.
At times, the only thing I've had to hold on to is knowing that Jesus is on my side because He knows I'm on His side, and that He cares about me as if I were His one and only.
So while I have to be here anyway, I want Him to use me any way He wants to. Just like the parable of the talents, I want Jesus to say to me when He sees me, "Hey Terry! I'm glad you're here! You were a good and faithful servant to me, you did the best you could, now come with me and share the rewards of our work together!"
But I don't want to be busy doing what I think I should do, I want to be available to do what He asks me to do. So I try to rest in Him and listen to His leading, and He directs me through the Holy Spirit in me. I believe that when it "occurs to me" to do something that I am sure would be a good thing according to Him, I believe it is the Holy Spirit putting the thought in my head.
I've written this because it occurred to me one morning when I was planning to do something else. After it occurred to me, I thought about it and decided it could be a good thing. And hopefully it will give you hope and boost your spirits. If it helps you in a good way, then I have served Jesus today.
"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed. Then they said unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:27-29)
I used to see my past as a set of scales in my mind; on one side, the pile of the good things I've done, and on the other side, the pile of my failures and the bad things I've done. And the bad side has always outweighed the good side in my mind. Whenever I would start feeling pretty good about myself, I would sit back for a moment and double-check the scale. It's always looked still too heavy on the bad side! Then I'm "back to reality" about myself, feeling no good and worthless. It deflates my spirit, takes the wind out of my sails, and makes me feel like nothing good I ever do matters. And Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
But now that I'm saved and I'm learning what God's Word says, I am learning the truth. The scale is gone, and there is only one pile now. It's the pile of things I've done in the love of God and with the love of God. It's the pile of things I have done that serve Him.
Staying alive for Him when I'd rather be dead, I think, is a big chunk on my good pile. Then, also, Jesus told us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." and "Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto Me." and "Love your enemies." Whatever we do to love others in His name, that is good service to Him!
The beauty of it is that once we are forgiven, there's no more bad pile at all. When I decided to make Jesus my Lord, He made the bad pile and the scale disappear. There is no more weight of wrongs against us. When we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to remove them from us "as far as the east is from the west".
And even though there's nothing we can do to take back the pain we have caused others, especially those who are no longer alive, all we can do is trust that God knew what was happening, and pray that He was covering for us and watching over them too!
You can serve the Lord whoever and wherever you are. He loves your praise, your prayers, and your contentment and thankfulness for what you have. You serve God by refusing to obey Satan. You're serving God when you believe in and trust Jesus, and denounce the lies of Satan in your head. Whatever good things you think, say, or do for His sake serves Him.
You can be a witness for Christ to others just by the way you are, just by the freedom and joy you exhibit to others as the good fruit of trusting Him as your Savior.
There's lots of people I'd like to see in heaven who need to know that they, too, can be forgiven for all the wrong things they've done, no matter how bad, by crying out to God for forgiveness and surrendering their lives to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And I will do what I can to see that happen.
"And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise Him up at the last day." (John 6:40)
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