Friday, April 17, 2009

Life on the Other Side



Ever fall in love to one of those age-old timeless classic fairy tales when you were a child. The same ones that promised us all at the end of the story, that it would all end happily ever after? Do you believe life ends that way? If you are a believer in Christ, we have that absolute faith in our future. It just won’t happen why we are here. Earth can’t deliver on those promises only heaven can, and in the presence of God. I have been thinking about this ever since I have heard our current President Obama mention again with his talks in Turkey that our nation is not a Christian nation. It's another reminder, that I believe, we are residing in the final days here on Earth. So it's about time we start talking about our home that appears to be getting closer and closer to us.

It’s so amazing since I have brought up the topic of heaven in one of my other posts, that if you don’t know what heaven is like, I would like to share some insight on one of the many studies I have been doing on it.

I guess like most people we all wonder if it is in fact a real place. Absolutely it is! Jesus said, when he was leaving is disciples; he told them he was going to prepare a place for them, for us all. Just where would that be, certainly not here on earth.

One of my most favorite of all Bible verses is this from Revelation 21: 1-5, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”NLT

So this is not a moment of the Bible that has already happened but one that will happen in, I believe, the very near future. The second question for most people is will we know each other in heaven? Again I believe without a doubt. When James, John and Peter went with Jesus to the Mount of Transfiguration, and they saw Moses and Elijah standing with Jesus, they knew them already. They didn’t have a discussion with themselves, saying, I know the one in the middle is Jesus, but who are the other two? It was something they guessed either. Many years had come and gone in the days of Moses and Elijah, and there were no history books for Peter, James and John to see pictures of the previous prophets of God. So they knew them.

In 1 Corinthians 13:12, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” We will remember things. We will remember what our lives were like, but we won’t deal with certain aspects of our former lives. We won’t forget. How many times have you forgotten things like your keys, where you parked your car or where you left your purse? No more in heaven! Thank God for that alone. It seems the older I get, the worse it becomes. We will still love in heaven, but it will be a perfected love, a sweeter kind of love!

We will also have new bodies. They will resemble our former selves but in a glorified state. No more dying, decaying, aging, weak, or diseased. They will be full of strength! Our resurrected bodies will be like Jesus. When he appeared to the disciples after the crucifixion, he still bore His marks of the cross. He still ate food with the disciples, but He was also able to appear and disappear at will and also ascend to heaven, kinda like flying. I don’t know about you but I am hoping that flight will be possible between the new heaven and the new earth!

I guess the most important thing, we as Christians need to be doing at this time, is making sure we are running the race for Christ, because we never know for sure when our time is up!

Are you ready to meet Jesus? Do you know where you are going with certainty when you die? Remember if you don’t know for sure on either of those, you can. You can ask God to come into your life, right now where you are sitting here and reading this. You can ask Him to forgive you of your sins. You can thank Him for dying on the cross for you and your sins, and rising on the third day, so that by believing in Him, you shall not die, but have life everlasting. You will also need to stop sinning and turn to God and ask Him to lead your path in life now ~ Amen!

God hears our prayers, when we pray, all of heaven falls silent, and there is no greater joy and rejoicing that happens in heaven, than when someone turns their life to God or even recommits their life back to Him. Let make a party in heaven today!

Remember you can’t live a compromised life and continue to live in both worlds. You have to take a stand and make a choice. You don’t know if you have tomorrow, only this moment now! Won’t you choice life in heaven forever?

4 comments:

God's Girl said...

I can't even imagine what life would be with out having the comfort of knowing that I'm going to Heaven. Thank you for sharing such an inspiring post!

Julie

Warren Baldwin said...

I linked here from another site. I agree with your comments that we have to sharpen our focus during these days. They may be challenging! But we have the assurance of Jesus' presence "even unto the end of the age!" Hard times give Christians even greater opportunity to minister in Jesus' name. When times are bad for Christians they are often good for Christianity - if we are faithful the church will grow even in hard times. That is encouraging! Thanks for the post. WB

Andrea said...

Praise GOD for the happy ending of HEAVEN!! andrea

RCUBEs said...

"In that day, I will sing Hallelujah to my King...He will come to save me..." Great post. Thank you for your encouraging comments always sister Kat. God bless you.