Have We Forgotten Heaven?

 "However, as it is written:

'No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those 

who love Him."

~1 Cor. 2:9

"'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 no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of thing has passed away'

"He Who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' . . . 

"I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp . . . Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life . . .

"No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and the of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face and His Name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them lights. And they will reign for ever and ever . . . 

"'Behold, I am coming soon!'"

~selected verses from Rev. 21:3 - 22:7 [emphasis mine

One of the advantages of sharing a truck with our youngest daughter (DD#2) who is still living at home, is that we get to have some great conversations as I drive her to work. There are days when we laugh so hard at the silliest of things, we enjoy simply driving through the country-side and wonder why some people voluntarily live in the city, we pray for our daily needs. We've had some serious conversations, too ~ conversations about health, family, jobs, dreams, plans, heartstrings. A lot of topics are covered in that ol' truck.

Today's topic was so interesting, I didn't want it to end. While talking about a dear young man who is very ill, she mentioned that during a recent conversation he had said that he is ready to go to Heaven and she told him she is, too. This conversation was so bitter-sweet ~ this dear young man's illness is a mystery to EVERY Dr who has seen him. He is such a precious young man of God, a true gem of a person and his health just continues to decline . . . it's just all such a mystery. But, after lifting this young man up, we got on the subject of how so many of us ~ sincere, dedicated people of God ~ have lost sight of Heaven. 

Some people don't seem to even want to go! At least, not anytime soon. As DD#2 was saying, "they want to wait until they graduate from college, they want to wait until they get married or have a baby. . ." People simply don't realize what they're saying . . . we are so earth-bound in our stinking thinking. 

Heaven is our reward! Heaven is where the Lord is! When we are in Heaven, we will be enjoying the richest communion, the longings of our heart and soul will be realized with the dearest, deepest fellowship ~ the ULTIMATE, PERFECT Father/child relationship! 

And oh, the sights we will see ~ the things we will know. I have often wondered how we will handle being in Heaven when so many of our loved ones and friends who never accepted Jesus as their Savior, will not be there . . . for eternity. I wonder ~ will we understand the depths of sin so completely that we will simply understand what free will has wrought? Will we understand eternal reward for obedience and punishment of sin in such a complete way that we will praise God as we live the fulfillment of "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known"? (1 Cor. 13:12) If there are no more tears, then we will truly understand God's utter hatred of sin and the full depths of our salvation by His grace, alone. 

But the BEST part of Heaven will be that JESUS will be there! He will be waiting to take us to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb . . . and WE are His bride! Man, woman or child . . . WE will be His bride and Jesus, Himself, will our Bridegroom! He has spent eternity and paid the precious, costly price to make you and I ~ those of us who have accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord ~ His spotless bride. Instead of a ring, He will bless us by putting His Name on our forehead. NO ONE will be a wallflower, NO ONE will be unknown to Him, NO ONE will be unloved. We will all be eternally blessed. 

The whole of it all, as I once heard someone say, will be a worship service that lasts for eternity. 

Hallelujah~  

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." ~Rev. 22:20

And I haven't even mentioned being reunited with loved ones who have gone before us! 

Oh, I want to go there. I'm ready. Are you?

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><

**All art work by Ron DiCianni**