The Promise of Heaven

The promise of heaven. . .

the treasure of God.

My heart longs for these things.

Heaven is the true home of the believer. The Paradise lost that will finally and forever be restored, the place we were made to be. . .   forever.

No more death, no more pain, no more sin, no more enemy. No more looking down on ourselves, or others. No striving to be the best, to be noticed, to be satisfied. Every ache of this life that made us keenly aware that something was missing, will be no more. 

It’s hard to imagine heaven sometimes because our roots go down deep into the soil of this earth. This hard, cracked ground that holds the bones of generations, will be our grave someday too.

God formed the man from the dust, and it is part of each of us.

But, we are so much more than dust. God breathed His own breath into us when He gave us life. The image of God, held deep within the soul of every man. God knew each one of us before He formed us in our mother's womb. He knows our great potential and He longs for us to be redeemed and reconciled to Him.

Born to life once to live in this world, 

but we must be born-again in Christ to find true life,  

~ eternal life ~   the life that He died to give us.

It is what every soul is longing for. Even those who refuse to acknowledge God, or even downright reject Him, cannot truthfully deny this cry from deep within that says there has to be so much more. . .

Something beyond ourselves, something so exquisite and beautiful, so perfectly fulfilling that it will finally and fully fill the void that lies inside the heart of every man.

C.S. Lewis once said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

This world is not our true home. 

I’m sad for those who don’t believe this. Sad for a hopeless existence, for there is no true hope, no true life, apart from God.

There are many who would say I’m a fool for believing in a God who created me and loves me enough to die for me, a God who has plans for me and is building a future for me in heaven, a God who lives in me, and changes me, and carries me through each day.

I may be a fool, and perhaps one day I will just cease to exist, and I will be none the wiser.

But…   if they’re wrong…   the consequences will be devastating, and final, and forever.

I do believe that all of the good things in this life that God allows every one of us to experience are all because of His grace in the here and now.

“He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. 

And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong.” 

– Matthew 5:45

God is here with us now, and we all experience His grace whether we are putting our trust in Him or not, but one day that amazing grace will end for some.

Those who chose to live without him now, will be forever without Him and without all the good He provides.

Absolute and final absence of God will be the absence of light and love, beauty and truth, wellness and all that satisfies, and it will never-ever end.

I don’t ever want to live in that world. I can’t imagine that anyone really does, but what you believe in does matter, and ultimately, it has great consequences.

There are atheists who have tried to prove that God does not exist, only to find the abundant evidence that He does, and they fell straight into the arms of Love – the arms of the Everlasting Father, taking hold of the promise of heaven and everlasting life.

I pray that everyone I know, who right now does not believe, will truly seek to find answers for themselves and not just follow the ways of this lost and deceptive world.

This world and this one life we've been given will all pass away, and oh, how I pray that one day, I will see every one of them in the home we were truly made for. . .

that they too, will discover 

the Treasure of Heaven.

Now is the time to search for this treasure. To find true hope and forgiveness, redemption and freedom that only comes when we look beyond ourselves and our own selfish lives, seeking out what we were truly made for and accepting the sacrifice that Jesus made so that we could be reconciled to the Father and be welcomed as a child of God into Paradise one day.

Now is the time to discover His love and put complete trust in Him.

Right now, before it's too late.

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Search for wisdom as you would search for silver or hidden treasure. 

– Proverbs 2:4

I will give you treasures hidden in dark and secret places. 

Then you will know that I, the LORD God of Israel, 

have called you by name.  

– Isaiah 45:3

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Cherish

How I need to be reminded of this...    

To cherish the moments,

cherish the days,

cherish His ways.

Always, always, to cherish life

and remember to always 

give praise!

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But may all who look for You

    discover true joy and happiness in You;

May those who cherish how You save them

    always say, “O Eternal One,

You are great and are first in our hearts.”

 - Psalm 40:16 Voice

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A Long Cold Winter

It’s been over a month since I've posted here, mostly because I’ve been at a loss for words.

Back on November 1, I made mention of a season of change taking place in my life, a winter season that had suddenly and unexpectedly entered in leaving me icy cold and wondering just how long it would last. It truly has been a long cold winter, the longest I can remember, both literally and figuratively.

Job loss can feel like a death.

To have something I held for 10 years suddenly ripped from my life was shocking to say the least. It’s one of those things I had seen happen to the “other guy” time and time again, but naively I thought, that’s just not going happen to me. 

But it did.

Walking this icy winter path has been both dark and scary at times. Though I still had hope and never for a moment lost my faith, there were moments, I’ll admit, that were filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and on some days, complete frustration.

I was thankful to find new work within a month of being laid off, but was honestly still mourning what had been lost. A job is not just a job, but a really big part of your life, and in some ways, a part of your identity. Good friends at work were like extended family to me and when those daily relationships were suddenly severed, it left some gaping wounds that are just now beginning to heal.

I was hopeful that the new job would be the next best thing in my life, that God led me there because He had great plans to use me there to shine “this little light of mine” all for Him. Soon, however, things seemed darker than ever. I began to have a strong sense that I just did not belong, I was never going to love this job, and with the type of work I was doing all day, there was no time to make deep connections with any of my co-workers --- no chance to truly shine my light. 

“Why, God?” I kept asking. “Why did you bring me to this place? I just don’t understand.” 

But God makes something very clear in the book of Isaiah; 

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  

(Isaiah 55:8,9)

God’s ways can be so hard to understand. We expect things to go a certain way, thinking that’s what's best for us, but He knows infinitely more than we do, and His plans are always better than what we would settle for if it was just us calling the shots.

Today, I stand with new hope and understanding. The job He provided for me seems to have been a placeholder for the next best thing. The place where He really wanted me was not quite ready for me yet. 

He put me in one place, to teach me to trust Him.

Now He’s taking me to the next place, and I will gratefully follow Him.

The day I was laid off, I posted this song to my Facebook page. The truth in these lyrics spoke loudly to my heart. The words rang solid and true on that day as they have, and will continue to, every single day of my life. . .

He's always been faithful to me.

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This is what God says,
    the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
    who carves a path through pounding waves,
The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—
    they lie down and then can’t get up;
    they’re snuffed out like so many candles:
“Forget about what’s happened;
    don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
    rivers in the badlands.

- Isaiah 53:16-21 (The Message)

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